


Burn Out the Sky

by asthmaticjedi



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Espionage, Idiots in Love, Implied Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Character(s), Minor Violence, Mutual Pining, Reaper76 Reverse Big Bang, Space Opera, Space Prince AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 02:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12854475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asthmaticjedi/pseuds/asthmaticjedi
Summary: What starts as a boring diplomatic meeting explodes into an interplanetary conflict, and Prince Gabriel Reyes finds himself to be smack dab in the middle of it. On top of all of that, he has to deal with his mouthy bodyguard, a fellow monarch with his nose stuck a little too far into Gabriel’s business, a recalcitrant and hostile official from the offending government, and a moody and estranged childhood best friendwho also happens to be the love of his life. In the universe’s defense, no one said that it would be easy.A Space Prince AU.In collaboration withpixiepunchfor theReaper76 Reverse Big Bang. Art can be foundhere.





	1. An Explosive Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is divided into 10 chapters and an epilogue and will update Tuesdays and Fridays.
> 
> Art that was the inspiration to this piece can be found [here](https://pixiepunch.tumblr.com/post/167982659567/i-participated-in-the-reaper76bigbang-reverse).

Planet designation: Vishkar was hot and humid. Not unlike his own home planet during the summer, but when the spacecraft dipped lower into the Vishkarian atmosphere, Gabriel wrinkled his nose at the lush vegetation and the pristine, white towers of the capital looming in the horizon. Important interplanetary government meeting or not, he’d rather be anywhere but here. 

Well. _Almost_ anywhere but here. 

Gabriel’s thoughts were cut off by Hana’s cheerful drone. “This is Chief Security Officer to His Royal Highness Gabriel Reyes Hana Song of Planet Rogan, requesting landing clearance, over.”

“Vishkar Air Security, please state your designated security clearance, over.”

“Security number four-six-seven-two, over.”

“Permission to land granted.”

The spacecraft whirred and landed on the hanger with a gentle thump. The air outside the spacecraft was worse than what it had filtered inside, much to Gabriel’s and, going by his head bodyguard’s grimace, Hana’s displeasure. Gabriel briefly mourned his decision to wear his planet’s traditional royal clothing for this diplomatic mission, heavy fur cloak and all. 

“Prince Gabriel Reyes.” The Vishkarian diplomat greeted him with a low bow and the system’s fakest smile. Still, he inclined his head and pasted on his best politician face. “It is good to have you here on Vishkar.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Diplomat Bretton. This trade summit is very important for the prosperity of my people, as I’m sure it is with yours.” 

“Then let’s not waste time then. Shall we?” She gestured behind her and Gabriel nodded in agreement, following her down the well polished walkway. Behind him, he could hear Hana groan in approval as they stepped inside the air conditioned building and suppressed a laugh. 

“I hope we aren’t late and have inconvenienced anyone.” Gabriel’s voice echoed across the spacious and equally white, shiny walls. 

“Not at all, Your Royal Highness.” Diplomat Bretton flashed him another artificial smile. “We are still waiting for the Wirtinian delegates to arrive. I believe their Royal Secretary has mentioned that Minister of Interplanetary Trade Liao was ill and they’d be sending a replacement in their stead.”

Something twisted low in Gabriel’s stomach. He wasn’t quite sure if it was in excitement or dread, but he would figure what it is sooner or later. Hana, ever loyal, stayed silent. “Did they mention who they would be sending?” 

“I’m afraid not, Your Royal Highness.” She smiled apologetically as she tapped a code into a white door. It swung open to reveal a familiar conference hall. “Here we are! Make yourselves comfortable as we wait for the Wirtinian delegate and President Korpal to arrive.” 

The second Bretton left the hall, Hana giggled and popped her gum. “You don’t think _he’s_ the Wirtinian delegate, do you?” 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and shifted uncomfortably in his cloak. “Unlikely. He rarely engages in politics.” 

“Whatever,” Hana snorted and looked around the room. “Guess it’s my duty to tell you it’s time to meet and greet all these stuffy nerds.”

“Hana.” Gabriel fixed a glare on her. “ _I’m_ one of those ‘stuffy nerds.’”

She popped her gum again as she rolled her eyes. “But you’re, like, slightly less stuffy. Mostly because you’re around me all the time.” Hana flashed a cheeky grin and wink that has gotten them into trouble many times. 

Gabriel opened his mouth to retort back and was thankfully cut off by someone clearing their throat behind him. He turned and flushed, dropping to a bow. “Crown Prince Hanzo. It’s good to see you again.” Hana giggled, unrepentant and he shot her another threatening look. 

“Prince Gabriel.” Hanzo returned the bow. “I hope you are doing well… as is your nephew.” Hanzo turned red and didn’t meet Gabriel’s eyes. 

Gabriel suppressed a snicker. It probably wasn’t polite to laugh at other monarchs, even if their family was failing miserably at maintaining control of their planet for the past century. “Thank you, I’m doing well. Jesse is also doing well. He says hello to you and your family and regrets that he could not come.” Gabriel wished it was appropriate to take a picture of Hanzo’s disappointed face with his tablet, if only to send it to send the picture and a teasing note to Jesse. His and Hanzo’s relationship was the worst kept secret in the universe. 

“Send him my… regards,” he murmured before stepping away to greet another diplomat -- Akande Ogundimu, if his memory served him correctly -- his face still flushed. 

Hana snickered. “God, that was hard to watch. You should’ve seen the way his face fell when...”

She was cut off by the quiet _swoosh_ of the door, where King Reinhardt Wilhelm stepped into the room. “Gabriel!” he boomed, a large smile splitting across his face. Gabriel winced slightly as Reinhardt swept him into a tight hug and quietly breathed a sigh of relief when he was released. “It has been too long, my friend.” 

Gabriel smiled ruefully. “It really has been, Reinhardt. We could stop by your planet after this meeting, perhaps?” Hana squawked, sounding annoyed. Big mistake on her part.

“Officer Song!” Reinhardt roared, rushing over to pick the poor girl up into a tight hug. Hana squirmed her way out of his embrace, wheezing. “You have grown much since we’ve last met!” 

“Yeah,” Hana panted, massaging her ribs. “It’s great to see you too, big guy.” Reinhardt laughed raucously, thumping on her shoulder. Gabriel giggled as Hana buckled under the force. Behind him, someone coughed politely.

“Ah, Gabriel! You remember my brother, Jack?” Reinhardt gestured to the person behind Gabriel, and Gabriel felt a moment of dread as he turned around.

“Prince John,” he said coldly, inclining his head, ignoring the way his heart clenched painfully. He saw Jack flinch as Gabriel addressed him by his formal name. “It’s been a while.” 

“Prince Gabriel.” Jack’s voice was uncertain, but his jaw looked like he was clenching his teeth. “It has.” The quiet hum of conversation ceased and left the room icy and stale.

“I don’t believe I know why Wirtin’s king needs to be accompanied by his bastard half brother when he has two perfectly lovely heirs to the throne.” Gabriel winced a little at his own words but returned the glare nonetheless. A shocked murmur broke out.

“I’m not here as Wirtin’s diplomat. I’m here as the King’s security.” That made more sense. 

He opened his mouth to retort back, but god, how long has it been since he’s last seen Jack? It was before Hana took over as his head of personal security, so three? Maybe four years? Given Jack’s lack of presence during the frequent meetings between their two planets, it was probably intentional. Gabriel didn’t blame him. He trailed his eyes over Jack, clad in his planet’s military dress uniform. Of course he’s aged well since he’s last seen him. He always did. 

“Your Royal Highness,” Hana drawled, leaning against Gabriel. Jack flinched and turned to Gabriel’s bodyguard as she sauntered up to him. Hana lightly punched Gabriel’s arm and whispered in his ear. “I got your back, dude.”

“I don’t need you to have my back,” he whispered back, irritated.

“Sure.” She flashed him a knowing grin before bowing to Jack. “Your Royal Highness. Chief Royal Security Officer to His Royal Gabriel Reyes Hana Song, at your service.” She gave Jack a shit eating grin. Gabriel sighed. “It’s always nice to meet a fellow bodyguard!” 

A muscle twitched in Jack’s jaw as he assessed her. He fixed a cold glare onto Gabriel. “I didn’t realize the Reyes family was employing children to protect themselves.”

Oh no. Gabriel braced himself for the oncoming storm that was a pissed off Hana Song as her face went from a sweet sycophant to a woman that graduated top of her military class for a damn good reason. 

“Who are you calling a child, old man?” She stepped threateningly and somehow got into his face, despite him being nearly a foot taller than her. “I’ve _earned_ this position and _kept_ it because I _actually do my job._ ” Judging by Jack’s shocked and hurt expression, that struck a nerve. His eyes darted between Gabriel and Hana.

“I... Did… It isn’t any…” Jack floundered and Hana tapped Gabriel’s back for a fist bump. Gabriel responded with a nudge on her shoulder. He was going to kill her if she started a diplomatic incident for his “honor.” 

“Everyone,” a voice called. “President Sanjay Korpal will now enter to begin the 352nd Economic Summit for the Overwatch Alliance.” 

Hana shot Gabriel a wink. “You’re welcome,” she whispered smugly as she dutifully stepped to the back of the room with the rest of the bodyguards. Gabriel rolled his eyes and caught Jack shooting him and Hana a glare that looked… jealous? Weird, considering Hana was so young and that he knew Gabriel was gay. 

“Prince Gabriel, if you could please join us,” President Korpal called at the head of the conference table. Gabriel reluctantly tore his eyes away from Jack and sat down. The five other delegates, Reinhardt included, avoided looking at Gabriel. The president cleared his throat. “Now. I think we can begin with going over last year’s version of the Trans Gibraltar System Trade Treaty…” Gabriel sighed quietly and twirled his tablet stylus in his fingers and tried to focus on the meeting. 

The trade talk dragged on. At one point, Hanzo threatened tariffs for Planet Rogan on the basis that Gabriel looked at him strangely, apparently, despite their planets’ dependence on each other and his relationship with the second in line for the throne. Planet Cavelli’s Scientific Trade Consultant Angela Ziegler accidentally insinuated that her planet’s health science research was somehow superior to the research the Ogundimu Corporation does for Planet Numbani with biotech prosthetics, and therefore required Vishkar’s hard light technology more than Advisor Akande Ogundimu’s planet. This resulted in a shouting match between the both of them, with Reinhardt attempting to mediate. Gabriel shrank back in his uncomfortable chair, unwilling to try to intervene between the two. 

President Korpal cleared his throat at around seventeen minutes into the argument. Both Angela and Akande sat down, faces flushed with anger. “This meeting has confirmed something I have feared for a long, long time.” 

“That we are all bad at negotiating trade agreements? And that we’re all fundamentally self interested and therefore will make poor decisions that we will regret in a year’s time?” Gabriel asked, bored out of his mind. 

“Essentially, yes, Your Royal Highness.” Well, that was slightly unexpected, considering he was being a little sarcastic. “You are prime examples of why chaos reigns free in the universe,” President Korpal continued sadly. “Unless you have a strong leader to show you to shape order, we will all be doomed to wander endlessly in our own confusion, acting in their own self interest because they know no better.” 

“My friend, what are you saying?” Reinhardt raised an eyebrow.

President Korpal shook his head sadly as he walked towards the door. “I’m saying that Vishkar is initiating the Exagora Protocol.” 

Angela stood, drawing herself up as tall as she could. “Explain, Sanjay,” she said in a low, threatening voice.

“It _means,_ Angela,” President Korpal sighed, “that you and your government are unable to rule your planets effectively. Only we, the people of Vishkar, can lead mankind to a higher existence by installing peace to the system.” 

“You do not wish Hanamura or the Shimada family for your enemy,” Hanzo said lowly. 

“The term ‘enemy’ implies that both Vishkar and Hanamura have equal footing,” President Korpal said smoothly. “Trust me, Crown Prince Hanzo, we are not.” Hanzo tried to jump up to protest, but Akande held him down.

“What do you intend on doing to us in the meantime then, President?” Akande said in a cold, measured tone. 

“To be bargaining chips to ensure your government’s compliance,” the President replied calmly, exiting the room. “Good day to you all.” 

The room immediately went into an uproar, security teams rushing to find alternative exits and delegates screaming at each other. Gabriel gestured for Hana to come over. 

“There are no exits besides the one President Crapwad left out of, and last I checked there were, like, six dudes standing outside. And I’m guessing it’s lined with Vishkar’s patented turrets that know our individual heat signature and will fry on sight. Or, uh,” Hana furrowed her eyebrow. “Sensor? Anyways, communications seem to only work in the building.”

“Of course they are,” Gabriel groaned. The din grew louder and more frantic. “Okay, focus on any exits we can make.” 

_BAM._ Apparently, Advisor Ogundimu has decided to take his frustrations out by punching a wall with his prosthetic hand and made a sizeable hole in the wall for everyone to climb out of. The noise quieted for a moment in shock before they all clamored to escape. Hana tugged at Gabriel’s arm, leading him towards the gap.

“That works, I guess,” Hana snorted, unsheathing her blaster from its holster. 

“The hallways are too empty for a room that’s supposed to be filled with hostages,” Gabriel murmured. “There has to be more guards outside by the transports. We need…”

“A diversion. Yeah,” Hana finished. “It probably won’t be long until they figure out we’ve left the room, too.”

“Gabriel!” Reinhardt charged across the room with a harried-looking Jack in tow. “Allow us to escort you and Officer Song.”

“ _Allow?_ ” Hana said indignantly. “We were handling the situation just fine.” 

“Ah, but I believe you still owe me a visit.” Reinhardt clapped Gabriel on the back. Gabriel grimaced. “What’s a better time than now?” 

“Well, if you have a plan to get us out in one piece, I’m all ears.” Gabriel craned his neck around, silently hoping that Vishkarian security teams wouldn’t race down the halls to carry them away. 

Hana cleared her throat. Jack threw her a dirty look. “Well. As I was saying before I was interrupted, we’ll probably come across some goons that are just going to collect us back in. Like an invincible PacMan. If we’re gonna get off this planet, we need a diversion.”

“Since we’re going to the same planet, we can combine resources. Less variables, less ways for this plan to fall apart,” Jack cut in. Hana rolled her eyes. “Got any plans on what the diversion is going to be, Miss ‘I can do my job better than someone with over twenty years of experience?’”

“First off, it’s Chief Security Officer to His Royal Highness Gabriel Reyes ‘I can do my job better than someone with over twenty years of experience.’ And yeah, I do.” She grinned and popped her gum. “The Roganian ship actually has a self destruct function for situations like this. So we don’t have to rig it to explode or anything, we just need this old man,” she paused to affectionately rub Gabriel’s head, “to push the shiny pink and black button linked his biometrics.” 

Jack nodded, his jaw still clenched. “Right. So someone needs to distract the guards so Prince Gabriel can slip on board and activate the self destruct sequence, and then we’ll need someone to pilot our transport while Vishkar security is trying to take care of the… exploding ship.” 

Hana nodded vigorously. “The explosion isn’t super powerful, but the build up and the actual explosion is really loud. Gabriel’s going to have about ten seconds before it gets loud enough for them to notice.” She pulled out her tablet and tapped at the screen, frowning. “There’s three separate ways to get into the landing hangar. Gabriel can go to the portside entrance that has the connecting hallway to the main one, which is where our distraction will come through on. Your Majesty,” Hana turned to Reinhardt, who was peering over her shoulder. “Please tell me your transport is on starboard.” 

“Thankfully, yes.” 

“Good.” Hana nodded, seemingly pleased. “Then whoever is piloting the ship off the planet can take that entrance and slip onto the Wirtinian transport. Security runs away as our ship goes boom, and we’re basically homefree.”

“Alright, so we’ll need someone to pilot and someone to distract,” Gabriel said. “Hana, you’re the best pilot out of all of us. Even if their security is concentrated on the ground, we might need evasive maneuvers to get off the planet.”

“I will accompany Officer Song in case any problems arise.” Reinhardt placed a reassuring hand on Hana’s back. “I don’t think it would be wise for me to gain their security’s attention.”

Gabriel felt his heart drop. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hana make a face. “That means…” he trailed off.

Jack’s face was unreadable. “I’ll be with you for the most part.”

Irritation bubbled in Gabriel’s stomach. “Got any idea on how you’ll distract them? Or are you just going to ‘wing it,’ as usual?”

Gabriel always forgot how easy it was to rile Jack up. One snide comment, and his face would flush bright red and his fist would ball up in anger. “Think you can come up with a plan that won’t go to shit? Or any plan, at all?” Gabriel rolled his eyes. Reinhardt cleared his throat. 

“Gentlemen, I believe Officer Song has laid out an excellent plan for our escape that we should follow through.” Reinhardt fixed a look onto Gabriel and pulled himself up to his full height. “My friend, it would be appreciated if you could show my brother the same trust you have for me. And Jack.” Reinhardt raised an eyebrow. “I trust you will look after Gabriel.” 

Gabriel wasn’t sure how it was possible, but Jack’s face flushed even redder. “Of course, Reinhardt,” Jack muttered. Gabriel looked into Reinhardt’s eyes and gave him a nod.

“You have my word,” Gabriel said. Hana pulled him aside, her eyes nervous.

“You sure you’re going to be okay with this, old man?” Her voice was quiet and worried. Gabriel smiled softly and ruffled her hair. 

“The self-destruct won’t be very powerful, you’ve said it yourself. And you underestimate my athletic ability,” he winked and nudged her playfully.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Hana whispered heatedly. “I don’t want you to torture yourself just because I’m a good pilot.” 

Gabriel smiled, exhausted. “I’ve been in politics for about thirty years. I’m pretty sure I can work with someone I don’t like for a few minutes.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“ _Yes,_ Officer Song. Drop it, that’s an order.” Gabriel’s voice left no room for argument.

Hana nodded but still looked unconvinced. She pressed his communicator into his palm. “Use it if you need to. Please.” Her eyes were worried and pleading, and Gabriel attached it to his ear without argument. Satisfied, Hana tugged him to where Reinhardt and Jack were waiting expectantly. 

“All right, team.” Gabriel pulled out the map. “Final run through of the plan. Jack goes through the main entrance and distracts whoever’s in the hangar while I go to the entrance on the left to self destruct the ship. Hana and Reinhardt start the other ship and set it on course for Wirtin. Is that clear?” Everyone nodded. “Good. Let’s go.” 

Anxiety gnawed in Gabriel’s chest as they moved from one white, glinting hallway to another. Everything was too white, too clean, too pristine for his own comfort, and their breathing, heavy from nervousness and jogging down hall after hall, echoed off the panels. After what seemed like an eternity, Hana stopped and held up her hand.

“Okay, here’s where it splits to get to the different entrances. Prince Jackass, you have a comm linked up with your king, right?” Hana’s eyes looked too excited for someone being held hostage.

“I do,” Jack replied, his tone stiff.

“Good. We’ll be able to communicate with each other, but if you need to talk to Gabriel when you guys are split up, it’ll have to go through us.” Hana made finger guns and pulled Reinhardt down a separate passage. “Good luck!”

Gabriel watched as Hana and Reinhardt jogged down the hallway, suddenly wishing that Jack and Hana’s roles be reversed. He became hyper aware of Jack hovering close by, not quite sure if he should move or say anything. 

“Okay Blondie, let’s move.” The endearment that Gabriel hadn’t said in almost twenty years slipped out from its own volition and he bit his lip, wincing at his stupidity. Gabriel started walking through the other hallway, not bothering to let Jack respond to that. 

“So.” The air between them turned heavy and stale. Gabriel felt Jack seething with resentment, anxiety, and something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He rolled his eyes.

“There’s really no need for you to say anything that isn’t important to escaping. You’ve made that obvious on every diplomatic meet up between Rogan and Wirtin.” A smug smile spread across his face as Jack floundered.

“You do realize that I also have responsibilities on Wirtin, right? Or did you think I’m there to look pretty and be Reinhardt’s yes-man?” Jack asked derisively. 

“Well, you did always have this complex to incessantly please everyone,” Gabriel mused.

Jack scoffed. “Unlike some people, I had to learn how to compromise on things.” 

“Took you long enough,” Gabriel muttered under his breath. 

“Excus--mph!” Gabriel suddenly stopped and slapped a hand over Jack’s mouth.

“Shut up,” he whispered heatedly. “Someone’s coming.” Gabriel’s fears were confirmed by the quiet click of heels and the light tapping of a finger against a tablet. 

“Go.” Jack’s voice left no room for compromise. Gabriel hesitated, his instincts screaming against him. Jack gave him a quick shove. “Go! The hallway will split. Take the left side when it does.” He reached for his handgun and pushed Gabriel down the hallway. Despite the less than cordial conversation they just had, Gabriel felt fear rush through his veins for him. Jack rolled his eyes and gave him another nudge. “Go, I’ll be fine,” he said, exasperated.

Gabriel reluctantly sprinted down the hallway, taking the left fork. In the distance, he could hear a low, accented voice, followed by a muffled scream. 

“Hey, it’s me. By the sound of what just came out of Reinhardt’s comm, I think Jack found his distraction,” Hana whispered, her voice crackling. 

“I hope so. The sooner we get out of here, the better,” Gabriel panted. “Location?”

“Waiting on Jack. You were right, the hanger is decked out with pretty much all of Vishkar’s security,” Hana groaned. “Hope your ex has a damn good distraction.”

Gabriel reached the left side entrance to the transport hangar. “Can’t be my ex,” he said distractedly. 

“Hold on a sec.” He heard Reinhardt’s voice in the distance, probably talking with Jack over his comm. “Alright, Jack’s ready. From what I can hear, it’s a doozy.” 

In the distance, he could hear Jack shouting something and the furious clamoring of Vishkar security. Whatever his distraction was, it was definitely working. 

“Guess that’s our cue to go,” he breathed, and slipped through the hangar door, sprinting to his ship. The throng of people was too thick for Gabriel to see Jack, but thankfully, they didn’t notice the sound of the door sliding open. 

“Alright, old man, you in the ship?” Hana’s voice buzzed.

“Yeah. You in the getaway?”

“You got it.” He could practically hear Hana wink over the comm. “It won’t take long to fire it up, so the sooner you activate it, the better.”

Right, the self destruct sequence. The black button glared at him, flashing bright pink lights. _Here goes nothing._ He took a deep breath and pressed his index finger to it. The ship’s computer system bleeped helpfully. “ _Biometrics for codename: Barn Owl recognized. Initiating self destruct sequence. Sequence will begin in ten seconds. Ten. Nine. Eight._ ” Gabriel did not need to be told twice, rushing off the ship and sprinting to the other end of the hangar. “ _Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Activating Self Destruct sequence._ ” Gabriel climbed onto Reinhardt’s ship, his heart leaping out of his chest. 

“Glad you could make it old man,” Hana grinned, pulling him up to his feet. Gabriel had never been happier to see his bodyguard. “Let’s boogie!” 

Across the hangar, he could hear the growing whine of his ship and the uproar of Vishkar security, their attention drawn to the ship. Jack took the opening to race to the ship with someone in tow. He tossed his prisoner gracelessly into the transport, panting heavily and pushing his hair out of his eyes. “Let’s go!” he called. 

Hana lifted the transport off the ground, cackling madly when they swept out of the hangar as it exploded. “BEST. DIPLOMATIC. TRIP. EVER,” she hollered.

Despite Hana’s excitement, Gabriel felt something deep and heavy sink in his chest as he stood by the opening of the ship, watching the explosion grow smaller and smaller as the ship ascended into the atmosphere. He felt Jack step behind him, his stance radiating tension and anxiety. 

“We did what we had to do,” Jack said quietly. “It was our governments’ autonomy over Vishkar.” 

Gabriel pursed his lips together and sighed. He didn’t need Jack’s reassurances. Brushing rudely against Jack’s shoulder, Gabriel crossed the ship to examine their unconscious prisoner. They looked awfully familiar too…

“God _dammit_ Prince John, out of all the fucking hostages you could’ve taken, you had to take her?!” He gestured angrily at the young, elegantly dressed woman slumped gracelessly on the floor. 

“She was the one that was coming towards us in the hallway, I didn’t have much of a choice,” Jack said defensively. 

“What is all the ruckus going… oh dear.” Reinhardt emerged from the cockpit and his voice faded as he saw the figure. 

“You _had_ to take Satya Vaswani? _The_ Satya Vaswani, Executive Director of Design for Vishkar’s government?” Cold satisfaction bloomed in Gabriel’s chest as realization dawned on Jack’s face. “Do you _ever_ pay attention to the people you talk to, ever, _diplomat?_ ” Jack was speechless, fear evident in his posture. Gabriel rolled his eyes and stormed off to the cockpit. 

“I’m guessing that went well,” Hana said distractedly, punching a few buttons and flicking a switch to the on position. 

“You have no idea,” Gabriel muttered lowly, sinking into the copilot’s chair. “Out of all the people to run in to us, it had to be Satya fucking Vaswani, second only to the goddamn president.”

Hana shrugged and popped her gum. “She’s one hell of a hostage, though.” 

Gabriel lifted himself up slightly and shot a glare at Hana. “Don’t defend him. We kidnapped a high ranking official whose government wants to do a hostile takeover of the entire system.” 

She raised her hands in surrender. “I’m just saying. She’s probably the ones with all the deets on how they plan on reaching systemwide domination. If she cracks, of course,” she added. 

“Why are you always right?” Gabriel groaned. Damn Hana and her good points. 

“Because I skipped two levels in military school, graduated top of my class, and got assigned to you. They don’t just let any rando do that, you know.” She shouted the last part, tossing her head back to look directly at Jack. 

“Hana,” Gabriel said in a warning tone. “As long as we’re with them, play nice.” 

Hana blew another bubble and popped it. “Fine, be that way, old man. But don’t think I heard that exchange between you two when Rein and I left you two alone.” 

“Traitor,” Gabriel muttered under his breath. Hana giggled, steering the ship farther away from Planet Vishkar.


	2. Run the System

So far, the flight to Wirtin was uneventful to say the least. It made Gabriel’s skin crawl.

With all of Vishkar’s forces focused on keeping them contained in that building, he understood why smaller fighter ships didn’t respond immediately when they pulled their stunt. But three hours into the flight, he checked the radar for what felt like the hundredth time. It blooped softly at him in an almost mocking tone. Gabriel scowled.

“Didn’t your mom tell you that your face will get stuck like that if you keep it that way?” Hana asked, looking bored out of her mind.

“It’s too quiet. Something’s not right.” Out of reflex, he reached for the radar screen again. Hana slapped his hand away, scowling. “Ow!”

“Well, poking at it again isn’t going to make them appear,” she scolded. She adjusted her grip on the steering wheel. “If it makes you feel better, I’m nervous too.”

“What for?” Gabriel asked sarcastically. “The fact that a planet the entire system relies on for trade is threatening a hostile takeover? Or that we basically conducted what looks a hell of a lot like a terrorist attack on their capital? Or that we’re accomplices to the kidnapping of Vishkar’s second in command, who’s gassed out to her eyeballs? Or…” Hana slapped a hand over his mouth.

“First of all, I’m nervous because of all of those things, but also I’m worried because we don’t have any bad guys tailing us.” Hana fiddled with the dashboard and toggled a few switches to prepare them for their descent to Wirtin. “We can’t contact anyone on any planets, but Vishkar can, and we’re basically giving them free time to redo their entire plan.” 

Gabriel slumped farther into the chair. “Fantastic.”

“Tell me about it,” she muttered, angling the ship downwards and flipping the ship communicators on. “Alright, time to land this sucker and find out our next…” Color drained from her face. “Dammit.” 

“Problem?” Gabriel asked, his brain immediately kicking into strategy mode. 

“You betcha,” she grumbled before raising her voice. “Yo blondies! How good is this nav system?”

Jack strode into the cockpit, looking wary. “It has infrared and an automatic landing system. Why do you ask?”

“Vishkar beat us here,” she said, her voice grim. “They’ve instituted martial law on Wirtin, and I’m guessing all the other planets in the system. We can’t land anywhere public without getting straight back into their hands.” 

“Shit,” Jack muttered, tapping the navigation screen. “Okay, I can set a new course for a safe house that’s only known to the Royal family and the heads of security. They’re sworn to secrecy for it, so Vishkar can’t know about it.”

“Roger,” Hana chirped. “Repositioning for new course. Hopefully the dark will help us go undetected.” 

As the ship broke past the cloud cover, the comm crackled to life. “Unidentified starship, this is Vishkar Military occupying Planet Wirtin. Please state security clearance to land.”

“Shit,” Jack breathed. He turned to Hana. “Stall until I can get to the ship’s defense turrets. His Majesty will help navigate. Prince Gabriel?” Gabriel froze, uncertain of what to make of this. “How good are your aerial fighting skills nowadays?”

There was no mistaking that those were fighting words. “I’ve always been a great shot,” he replied icily. 

“Time to prove it, then.” Gabriel followed Jack to the back of the craft and settled into the fighter seat. “We’re going to need to keep Vishkar off our tail so we can land without them knowing our location. Go.” He threw a headset at Gabriel. “This is for intra ship communications. We’ll need to keep Officer Song and Reinhardt updated on the location of Vishkar’s air security fighters so they can fly accordingly.” Gabriel nodded and headed off to the fighter controls on the left side, yanking on the headset.

“Alright gang, Vishkar has four ships on our tail, one on each side,” Hana said, her voice muffled by the roar of the ship. “Right now they think we’re a commercial intersystem ship that’s out of fuel and needing to dock, but it probably won’t be long until they ID the ship as Wirtinian government property. I’m gonna give you a countdown before I nosedive up so we can get into the clouds. Since the ship is Wirtinian made, it’ll give us a little more maneuverability in the clouds’ icy conditions. Plus, we’ll have a height advantage. Got it?”

“Understood,” Gabriel said, gripping the turret controls with his hands. It’s been ages since he’s done anything like this outside a simulator, but his pride was on the line, so he’d have to make do. 

“Copy that,” Jack said. 

Hana mumbled something to Vishkar air security before addressing them both. “Pulling up in three… two… one… NOW!”

Gabriel’s stomach dropped as the aircraft swooped up into the thick blanket of clouds. Squinting out the frosted turret cockpit, he swiveled around, searching for a ship. Outside, the Vishkar crafts that surrounded them scattered, most likely looking to gain an aerial advantage over them. 

“According to the radar, they’re trying to flank us from where you guys are. Don’t get caught!” Hana called. “I’ll try and keep us on a linear course, but when they start firing, I can’t make any guarantees.” 

The shape of a ship popped up on Gabriel’s screen, slightly below his position. Gritting his teeth, he aimed and fired, hail and pulse ammunitions thudding unpleasantly against the Vishkar security ship. His opponent wavered slightly but fired back, their energy beams grazing the ship. 

“Hana, I’m taking fire. We’re going to need you to do your thing,” Gabriel said through gritted teeth.

“Got it.”

“Not anymore,” Jack said smugly as the ship blew up. “Are you sure you haven’t gone soft, sitting on that throne?”

“You trying to impress me?” Gabriel asked, irritated. “Take out the rest of the ships.” 

“Not a problem,” Jack purred, shooting at another one that appeared in the distance. The security ship fired a shot towards them, jarring the aircraft. 

“You were saying?” Gabriel retorted. 

“Gentlemen,” Reinhardt warned. 

“Sorry,” they both mumbled. Gabriel tried not to feel too stung by Hana’s chortle. 

“Going to take evasive maneuvers anyways. Keep your seatbelts on,” Hana called before violently pulling the aircraft to the right.

Gabriel winced as his seat swung violently. He took another deep breath and aimed at the ship closest to him, grinning in satisfaction as the ammunition struck it and setting fire to the wing of the ship. It pulled away from formation, but Gabriel was faster. All he needed to do was swivel, aim down a little, and…

The ship blew up with a satisfying _BAM._ “I didn’t think so,” he murmured quietly. Jack made an awkward choking noise, which startled Gabriel from his internal celebration. One of the remaining ships hit them with another shot. Hana swore.

“Sorry team, got distracted. But we only have two more, and it looks like if we keep on course, we won’t get any more on our tail,” Hana said, her voice determined. 

Gabriel shook his head as Jack whooped excitedly, firing at another ship as it exploded and rolled out of the sky. 

“I’m just getting started,” Jack taunted. Gabriel wasn’t sure if it was towards himself or the pilot Jack shot out of the sky. Gabriel rolled his eyes and focused on the last one.

This one was annoyingly persistent. Despite its tail catching fire, the ship tracked Hana’s movements while rolling out of their ammunition’s path. Over the comm, Jack made an irritated noise.

“Jack,” he said. Jack hummed in acknowledgement. “This isn’t working.” 

“What gave you that idea?” Jack said sarcastically. 

“Not the time to be smart with me, _Your Royal Highness,_ ” he warned. “Lead them to the center of the ship. If we can limit their horizontal movement, it’ll be a lot easier to get a hit on ‘em.”

“Copy that,” Jack said. 

“Hana?” Gabriel asked. “Keep us on a straight course.” 

“Done,” Hana chirped.

Jack began to fire shots, forcing the ship to roll towards the center of their aircraft. Gabriel hissed through his teeth as the ship opened fire, jolting the aircraft painfully. If he was right about the pilot’s movements, then… 

With a final click of the trigger, the ship blew up in an orange fireball. Gabriel faintly heard Hana and Reinhardt cheer in the background as footsteps clicked closer to him. 

“Gabriel.” Jack’s voice was stiff, but this time his face was nervous. He refused to look Gabriel in the eyes. “Good shot.” 

Well, that was a surprise. “Thanks,” Gabriel said uncertainly. “You did good, too, Jack.” Out of the heat of the dogfight, Jack looked startled at the sound of Gabriel not using his formal name. The air hung awkwardly between them and Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief as Hana raced down the passageway, squealing excitedly. 

“That was so cool!” she shrieked. 

“A fine job, gentlemen,” Reinhardt roared as he joined them in the hallway. Gabriel flushed in appreciation. 

Hana bounced on the balls of her feet. “Right. So, we should be landing at the safehouse in a few? Five minutes, max.” She grabbed Gabriel’s arm and led him to the pilot’s cockpit.

“We need to decide what we want our next move to be,” Gabriel said, settling into the copilot’s seat. “Vishkar can’t be one step ahead of us all the time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hana said dismissively. “What _I_ wanna know is what was up with Prince Jack and that awkward as hell noise he made when you were busy doing your own victory dance.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes, sinking down farther into the seat. “He was probably surprised that I actually hit something since, you know, I’m busy doing politics while he runs around trying to be a hero all the time.”

“If you say so.” Hana didn’t look convinced as she checked over the ship’s systems. “Anyways, we should probably interrogate Director Vaswani on Vishkar’s whole thing. Maybe she’ll let something slip.”

“She’s too smart for that,” Gabriel sighed. “And loyal. If we can convince her, somehow…”

“Woah, old man.” Hana’s eyes flickered back and forth from the dashboard to Gabriel. “When I was assigned as your chief of security, I did _not_ sign up for torturing enemies of Rogan.”

“I didn’t say that we’re seriously considering to torture her,” he said defensively. “I’m suggesting that there has to be some sort of way to get leverage on Vaswani!” 

“Oh, yeah, like what?” Hana said sarcastically. “Take her prosthetic arm? Kidnap her pet bearded dragon? Promise her the throne to Rogan and Wirtin? We aren’t exactly in a place to bargain with her, if you haven’t noticed. 

“Shut up,” he muttered. “We’ll figure this out as we go.” 

“Don’t let the king and queen hear you say that,” Hana snickered as she guided the ship down into the landing pad. “Speaking of which.” 

“If Vishkar already implemented military rule over Wirtin, chances are they’ve done it for Rogan too,” Gabriel said grimly. “Depending on the story they’ll tell the Crown, we may be fugitives to our own goddamn planet, too.” 

Hana nodded vigorously. “If we can, we should establish some sort of contact with Jesse, minimum. He’s too young for Vishkar to take seriously but important enough to keep alive, even just as a bargaining chip. We should try and contact the Wirtinian queen and princess, too.” The ship landed with a gentle _thump._ “They won’t hand us over to Vishkar, probably. Assuming they don’t get caught.” 

“I’ll leave that to Reinhardt. We’ll figure out a way to contact home base, somehow.” Gabriel stood up and stretched, appreciating the feeling of being on a solid surface. Outside the cockpit, Jack and Reinhardt waited for them, their faces grim. 

“We’ve swept her for bugs,” Jack said, gesturing towards Vaswani’s body which was cradled in Reinhardt’s massive arms. “She’s clean, but we’ll still need to move quickly. We still don’t know what Vishkar’s plan is, especially since we threw a wrench in it.” He motioned for the three of them to follow him and exited the spacecraft, revealing an inconspicuous bunker, shrouded by the evening fog and dense forest ground. 

“Nice,” Hana said approvingly as she stepped inside. A dust mote fell on her face and she sputtered. “Okay, not so nice. When was the last time someone was actually in there?” 

“We anonymously hire a group to clean and restock every five years,” Reinhardt called, ducking to fit through the threshold. “We’ll have enough provisions for a few months and emergency communicators. We can try and contact Ana and Fareeha at an opportune time.”

A low groan startled the group as the figure cradled in Reinhardt’s arms started to move. “Wha… Where…” The woman fought her way out of Reinhardt’s hold. Moving on what Gabriel guessed was instinct, Hana tackled Director Vaswani to the floor and secured her. Vaswani was undeterred, struggling and snapping at everyone. “Where am I? Who are you? The last I remember...” Her voice and the color in her face faded as she looked around.

“Director Vaswani,” Gabriel tried in a placating voice. “I am Prince Gabriel Reyes of Planet Rogan. With me is my Chief Security Officer Hana Song--”

“Hiya,” Hana chirped, not even showing signs of strain. Vaswani growled and unsuccessfully tried to free herself. 

“King Reinhardt Wilhelm of Planet Wirtin, which is where we are at now, and…” His voice trailed off and fixed a glare on Jack. “This is Prince John Wilhelm-Morrison, the reason why you are with us.”

“Ah, yes,” Vaswani said, narrowing her eyes at Jack. “I remember you.” Jack shifted nervously. Despite her small size, Vaswani was still intimidating as hell. “Very well. Take me back to Planet Vishkar and perhaps your punishment will be lenient. This is not a request.” 

“Director Vaswani, I’m afraid we cannot do that,” Reinhardt said apologetically. “Your planet has instituted martial law on Wirtin.” 

“And probably all the other civilized planets in the system,” Hana added.

Vaswani’s eyebrow twitched. “Then take me to the nearest Vishkar embassy or military base.” 

“Director, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m not really keen on handing over my _planet,_ which my family has been ruling for thousands of years,” Gabriel cried. “So forgive us if we seem reluctant to go along with your government’s plan of taking over the whole damn system.”

“Vishkar will instill peace and order to the system,” she said coldly. “Humanity cannot function the way it has been the last few centuries unless they wish to fall victim to chaos.”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled Reinhardt aside. “Please tell me there’s some sort of holding room we could put her in. We have other things to do than debating with Vishkar’s second in command.”

Reinhardt nodded. “There’s a holding cell in one of the lower levels. I’ll accompany Officer Song to ensure her safety. Jack will show you where the communicators are kept so we can try to establish contact with the rest of my family.” With a final clap on Gabriel’s back, Reinhardt called for Hana and lead her down labyrinthian bunker. 

Gabriel sighed and approached Jack. “Reinhardt said you know where the emergency comms are?” Jack nodded and headed down one of the halls. Gabriel reluctantly followed. Jack stepped into a room filled with large panels, which whirred to life with a press of a button. He busied himself looking through the drawers and tapping at the screens as Gabriel tried not to feel too out of place as he watched Jack in his element. He felt like he should be saying _something_ but was too damn awkward to. 

Jack stepped back, face lighting up with the screens. Gabriel had to admit that the view was pretty spectacular, with the entire wall lighting up with a map of Wirtin and graphics of the other planets and photos of all four members of the Wirtinian Royal Family, accompanied with their statistics, and Jack...

“Wow,” Gabriel breathed. 

“Yeah?” Jack said, his voice barely concealing his excitement. “As the head of Royal Security, I got to decide on everything for this bunker, and I’ve always wanted a huge panel to show everything and…” Gabriel felt a rush of affection run through him and shuddered violently. “Are you okay, Prince Gabriel?”

Prince Gabriel. Right. He and Jack aren’t friends now, and haven’t been for almost twenty years. He squashed down the warm feeling and arranged his face into something more stoic. “It’s nothing. Don’t let me interrupt you.” 

Jack looked unconvinced, but turned back to his screens. “If Vishkar isn’t changing the Royal Family’s schedule, now would be an ideal time to contact Ana.” He tapped at one section of the screen and it made a low purring sound. 

“I’m guessing you’ve managed to make it untraceable,” Gabriel said, stepping forward. 

Jack nodded, his face flushing slightly. “It bounces off of thousands of different signal addresses, so if Vishkar tries to pin us down, they’ll get a few dozen different locations at a time. Hopefully…”

“Jack?” Ana’s face shone on the screen. Her voice was laced with concern and worry. “Why are you contacting me through this channel? Why is Vishkar here accusing you and Reinhardt of crimes against their planet? Are you in one of our _emergency bunkers?_ ” 

“Ana.” Jack raised his hands up in surrender. “There’s a reasonable explanation for this, I swear. I’d recommend getting Fareeha, too.”

Her eyes narrowed and pressed her lips to a thin line. “This better be good,” she muttered. She threw a stray scarf over the video communicator and left, presumably to fetch her daughter. A few moments later, Gabriel could hear muffled voices. Ana reappeared with Fareeha in tow. “Explain, Jack.” 

“Hi Uncle Jack!” Fareeha called from behind Ana. Her face lit up as she searched the screen. “Uncle Gabriel? Is that you?”

Gabriel felt a rush of affection for Fareeha. _It’s been too long,_ he thought to himself, noting the way her jaw was a bit sharper and her shoulders broader than the last time he’s seen her. “Hello, Fareeha.”

“It’s great to see you, Uncle Gabriel, but,” Fareeha wrinkled her nose and gestured towards the direction of the door. “What’s up with the Vishkar goons crawling over the capital? They have at least two of them following us around which is really annoying, and they keep on telling us you and Uncle Jack and Dad _blew a government building up..._ ”

“Fareeha,” Ana placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft look. Ana frowned. “Speaking of which. Jack. Where is my husband?”

Jack hesitated and looked to Gabriel for support. Gabriel gave him an unimpressed look. “He, uh.” Jack sweated nervously. “Reinhardt is with Gabriel’s security officer and our, um. Prisoner?” he tried.

“This wouldn’t have to do with Executive Director Vaswani’s disappearance or the allegations that you’ve kidnapped her, would it?” 

“Funny story.” Jack’s laugh was high and unsteady. Ana sighed.

“Just. Let me speak to my husband.”

“I’ll get him,” Jack muttered, walking out of the room. 

“Gabriel,” Ana said in a much sweeter tone. Despite knowing her for ages, Gabriel still felt a little nervous under the queen’s gaze. “How have you been?” 

He shrugged. “Not terrible. Rogan has been doing okay. Jesse almost ruined the Rogan-Hanamura Alliance by openly flirting with Crown Prince Hanzo, causing Hanzo to deny any non professional relationship. Jesse thought Hanzo was breaking up with him, even though they maintain there is nothing between them. So. You know, the usual.” 

Ana and Fareeha laughed as Jack came back in the room, followed by Reinhardt and Hana.

“Prisoner secure,” Hana singsonged. Her face broke out into a giant grin and bowed, bobbing up and down. “It’s great to see you, Queen Ana and Princess Fareeha!”

Fareeha squeaked. “Hi, Officer Song!” 

“I wish we could’ve met again under better circumstances, Officer,” Ana said sadly. She turned to her husband. “Hello, my dear.”

“My queen, my princess.” Reinhardt bowed. Ana laughed.

“Hi, Dad!” Fareeha called. 

“Right. Back to business,” Jack said. “What’s the situation at the capital?”

Ana grimaced. “They instituted martial law at around 1600, saying something about an incident at the Vishkar capital concerning the Wirtinian prince.” She glared at Jack, who had enough shame to look slightly mollified. “The general that placed himself in charge said they’re doing it on all planets in case you four decide to run off to any of their planets seeking sanctuary.” 

“Damn,” Gabriel muttered. “I’m not surprised, though. I’m guessing contacting my family through the normal routes will just alert Vishkar of our presence.” 

“Affirmative,” Ana sighed. “I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

Fareeha cleared her throat. “Actually, I could contact them the old fashion way.” 

“I’m listening.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

“I can go to Rogan under the guise of a diplomatic mission and smuggle in an extra emergency communicator so you can talk to Jesse,” Fareeha said casually. “Mum can hold down the fort here just fine, anyways.”

“No.” Gabriel said firmly. “Fareeha, it’s too dangerous. Also, what diplomatic mission? Rogan and Wirtin are under martial law of an invading government.” 

“I’m going there to help Jesse, obviously,” Fareeha reasoned. “Your parents aren’t exactly in shape to deal with this kind of thing, you’re a system-wide fugitive, and Jesse’s not exactly the most experienced leader. We have a close relationship, anyways.” 

It was clear that she was Ana’s daughter. Gabriel looked to Ana and Reinhardt, who shrugged, defeated. Hana popped her gum when Gabriel looked to her for support. “What? She’s right on all counts.” She gave Fareeha a thumbs up and a grin, which Fareeha returned. 

Gabriel exhaled noisily. “Fine. But _please_ be safe,” he pleaded. 

“Not an issue,” Fareeha smirked. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a trip to pack for. ‘Night, everyone!” 

Fareeha disappeared from the screen, leaving a tired-looking Ana alone in her bedroom. Reinhardt sighed and gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to put you in this position, my love.” 

Ana gave him a soft smile. “It’s not your fault. I’m sure Vishkar is waiting for the Parliament to collapse on itself so they can swoop in with minimal resistance. The most I can do for you is to delay.” She sighed and rubbed the temple of her forehead. “I wish I could do more to help.”

“No, that will be a great help,” Gabriel said. “That way, we’ll have eyes from the inside and know what they’re up to at all times. You’re also giving me a way to contact Jesse and help him out. That’s more than we could ask for.” 

She didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyways. “I’ll contact you every day at the same time so we can update each other. Please, be safe.”

“Of course, my love,” Reinhardt said.

“I can personally assure His Royal Highness and my own personal safety, Your Majesty.” Hana winked and shot Ana finger guns. 

“Jack?” 

“I’ll do my best, Ana.” Jack rolled his eyes. 

Ana laughed. “Good night, gentlemen, Officer Song.” 

The four of them muttered “good night” in varying levels of excitement. Gabriel sighed and rubbed his face. “Well, that was one hell of a day.” 

“Understatement of the millennium,” Hana said under her breath. “Right. Well, I’m going to sleep. Something about launching an uprising against a political takeover really takes it out of a girl. Later, nerds.” Hana flashed a peace sign and left the room. 

“Officer Song is right. We’ll start planning in the morning, but we still need to act fast,” Jack said, all business. “I’ll see if I can gather any intel from Director Vaswani in the meantime.” 

“If you insist,” Reinhardt sighed. “Gabriel?”

“I’ll help with questioning Director Vaswani. We need to know everything they’re up to.” Gabriel scratched the back of his head. He essentially just volunteered to spend more time with Jack, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep without at least attempting to interrogate Vaswani. 

Reinhardt nodded and headed for the door. “In that case, good night, gentlemen.” 

With Reinhardt gone, the awkward silence stretched between them again. Jack cleared his throat. “Shall we?” 

“Yeah.” Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief as he and Jack headed for the holding cell. “So,” he started. 

“I was thinking,” Jack said at the exact same time. Taken aback, they both laughed awkwardly. 

“Go ahead,” Gabriel said.

“We need a plan to interrogate Vaswani,” Jack said. “She’s not going to give her country up anytime soon. Willingly, at least. And she’s not stupid.” 

Gabriel paused at the door and pursed his lips. “We can get a feel for her, and what Vishkar has planned for the system, at the very least.” Not exactly what he wanted, but still better than nothing. He pushed the door open to reveal a small room with a clear partition dividing the room. On the other side, Director Vaswani stood and glared coldly at them.

“Your Royal Highnesses.” 

“Director Vaswani,” Gabriel greeted. “We have a few questions.” 

She smirked. “Of course you do. It’s not every day we take action to bring peace to the system.” 

“Peace?” Jack said incredulously. “You call a hostile government takeover _peace?_ Every single day, our governments work so that we can avoid any unnecessary violence. Do you have a better method of bringing peace to the entire system?”

“Yes,” Vaswani said simply. “Vishkar is more technologically advanced and well equipped to take on the responsibility of leading the system.”

“Enlighten us then, on how we’re failing our planets,” Gabriel said, crossing his arms. 

Vaswani sneered. “You sacrifice peace for the sake of freedom. Humanity itself cannot be trusted to ensure a peaceful society. Vishkar is the light that will lead humanity to a higher level of existence.” 

“That’s a bold objective.” 

“But one worth striving for nonetheless. Humanity is not meant to suffer if we have a solution for it.” 

Gabriel bit his lip and looked at Jack, whose forehead was creased. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell us your plan for taking over the system.”

“You must take me for a fool to ask that question,” Vaswani remarked. “I can’t imagine what the rest of your military is like if you are one of its highest ranking members.” 

Jack snarled and took a threatening step towards the partition. Gabriel placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. “Thank you for your time, Director Vaswani,” Gabriel said smoothly. “That’s all we have for now.” 

Vaswani gave a derisive snort. “Nothing you do will stop Vishkar’s vision. We have had this planned for decades.”

“Did the plan account for the kidnapping of their Executive Director of Design?” Gabriel asked snidely.

Vaswani faltered, but her face hardened again. “I am but one gear in their design. Vishkar _will_ bring order to the system, with or without me.” She sat back down and glared at them. “Good night, gentlemen.” 

That was a dismissal if Gabriel’s ever heard one. “Good night, Director,” he said, reaching for the door. “Well, that was a bust,” Gabriel said under his breath as they left the holding cell. 

“We still know more than before,” Jack argued. “Vaswani is dedicated to the cause for the sake of human suffering. Vishkarians aren’t usually known for their humanitarianism, so we can exploit that.”

Gabriel wasn’t convinced. “Doesn’t mean she has priorities, though. I wouldn’t think Vishkar’s second in command wouldn’t know her own planet’s dirty dealings.” 

“But it’s possible.” 

“Still ever the optimist, aren’t you?” Gabriel said bitterly.

Jack frowned. “It’s not a bad thing.” 

“Not until it bites you in the ass.” 

Jack froze, pain flashing on his face. “You know what? I’m going to check on the bunker’s communication systems and see if I can get surveillance on the Royal Palace. The bedrooms are on the ground floor, down the hallway to the left of the stairway. Good night, Prince Gabriel.” Without even bothering to wait for a response, Jack left Gabriel standing in the drafty hallway, alone with his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: the file name i'm writing the fic on is saved as "it's like the star wars prequels but gay." 
> 
> ty to [luke](https://skiesovertatooine.tumblr.com) for helping me out with the aerial dog fight so it's vaguely more realistic /smorch
> 
> prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com


	3. Best Laid Plans

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!” Hana shrieked, throwing the door to his room wide open.

“Jesus, Hana,” Gabriel grumbled. “Subtlety isn’t your strong point, is it?” 

“You don’t need subtlety for security purposes.” She sat on the edge of his bed and handed him a bowl of porridge. “Jackass already briefed us from the interrogation last night. Also, you wouldn’t happen to know why it looked like something crawled up his ass and died, would you?”

“Not at all,” he said airily. “And if I did, it’s not my fault he takes everything so seriously.” 

“Ga-abriel,” she whined. “You know full damn well how fucking unbearable he is. He can’t take it out on the king and avoids you like the plague, so you know who he takes it out on? Me, Prince Gabriel Reyes. _Me._ ” 

Gabriel sighed. “Fine. I’ll just never open my mouth ever again. Happy?”

“Yup.” Hana popped her gum. “Speaking of subtlety, Jack thinks we should raid the Vishkarian embassy for intel.”

“And?”

“It’s too dangerous to do alone. And in case you haven’t noticed, Reinhardt and I aren’t exactly the best at stealth, so…”

“It’ll be me and Jack. Right.” Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and considered his options. “Any solid plans yet?”

“He wants to attack tomorrow night. Based on the security footage he got from yesterday, most of the security is based in the Royal Palace so it won’t be terribly difficult to get in.” Hana tapped the edge of the bed. “By the way, Fareeha landed like, five minutes ago on Rogan. She’s probably meeting with Jesse right now and should be contacting us soon.”

Gabriel scrambled up. “Jesus Hana, lead with that! Do you have any idea how worried I am for the damn ingrate?” 

“I think I have a decent guess,” she snickered. She headed for the door and gave him a lazy salute. “Meet us at the comm room when you’re ready.” 

“Got it,” he called as he grabbed a set of clothes from the wardrobe. 

As Gabriel entered the communication room, Jack and Hana were already deep in conversation with Fareeha and Jesse. A wave of relief swept through him.

“Jesse!” he yelled. 

“Uncle Gabriel,” Jesse breathed. Gabriel gently touched the monitors, silently cursing Vishkar for separating him from his nephew. Jesse laughed, bright and open. “I knew I shouldn’t’ve worried about your stubborn ass.” 

“Good morning, Uncle Gabriel,” Fareeha called by Jesse’s side. Gabriel smiled affectionately. 

“Morning, Fareeha.” 

“Alright, so. Time for business.” Fareeha’s smile dropped and she rubbed the back of her neck. “As far as we can tell, Vishkar’s relatively convinced I’m here on a purely diplomatic mission. They’re suspicious, but they don’t have any proof.” 

“Good.” Jack nodded decisively. “The less they know, the better. You two aren’t in any harm, are you?”

“I don’t think so.” Jesse frowned. “If they wanted to assassinate the entire royal family, they had plenty of opportunities since they took over yesterday.”

“Not an excuse to let your guard down,” Gabriel warned. “Keep alert at all times. We don’t know what their exact plan is.”

“You got an ETA on when you’re going to find out?” Jesse raised an eyebrow.

Jack nodded. “Prince Gabriel and I are going to infiltrate the the embassy tonight. We’ll be on the lookout for communications between Vishkar’s high command and their ambassadors. They have to have coordinated the hostile takeover months, if not years in advance.” 

“You and Prince Gabriel, huh?” Jesse said warily. 

“You got a problem with that, Prince Jesse?” snapped Jack. 

“Yes, actually,” Jesse said, crossing his arms across his chest. Fareeha flickered her eyes between Jesse and Jack. “Apologies if I’m not completely convinced that you’d be adequate to protect the heir of the Roganian throne.”

“Jesse,” Gabriel said warningly. 

“The Wirtinian Royal family seems to be satisfied with their _experienced_ security team, _Your Royal Highness._ ” Jack didn’t even bother to hide the contempt in his voice. Behind Jack, Hana rolled her eyes. Jesse opened his mouth to retort back. 

“Alright, settle down,” Gabriel admonished. Jesse scowled as Jack rolled his eyes. “This will be purely reconnaissance, so there shouldn’t be any need for protection during a firefight. I’ll be fine.”

“Well, excuse me for being worried,” Jesse muttered under his breath. Fareeha looked conflicted on what she should do.

“Jesse. Drop it.” Gabriel’s voice was final. 

Jesse went silent before fixing a glare on Jack. “Yessir,” he growled. 

“Thank you,” Gabriel said. “Anything else we need to know?” 

“Negative,” Fareeha said, visibly relaxing. “We’re just doing damage control for your planet’s Senate, but we’ll let you know if we find anything out.” 

“Thank you, Fareeha,” Gabriel said reverently. “Rogan owes you. I mean it.” 

Fareeha smiled cheerfully. “Anytime, Uncle Gabriel.” She looked over her shoulder and bit her lip. “Okay, we gotta go before Vishkar suspects something. Talk to you when we can.”

“Bye, everyone,” Jesse called before Fareeha switched off. 

Gabriel sighed, exhaustion settling deep under his bones. Hana rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. “Jesse’s going to be fine, Gabriel. He and Princess Fareeha have this under control.”

“Doesn’t mean I still can’t worry about it. He’s barely an adult,” he said. 

“So were you when you basically took over for your parents,” she pointed out. “This isn’t much different. Just trust that he’ll do the right thing.” 

Gabriel bit his lip but dropped it. There wasn’t much he could do for Jesse anyways, and he had his own mission to worry about. Speaking of which.

“Prince Gabriel.” Jack’s voice shook him out of his reverie. “We need to go over the details of tomorrow night’s reconnaissance mission.” 

Hana nodded. “Jack showed me the layout of the embassy and has a solid plan on getting in and out. I’m in the process of tapping into the security system so we can give you guys a leg up on things. I’m running…” She twirled in her chair and tapped at one corner of the wall of monitors. “My twenty-third iteration of code trying to get in.”

“In the meantime…” Jack tapped at another section of the screen, pulling up blueprints. “This is the Vishkarian embassy. All entrances and exits are marked in green and the ambassador’s main office is right…” he trailed off and zoomed into the schematics of the third story. “Here. Based on personal experience, it’s guarded pretty heavily with their own tech in addition to their own human guards, which means we need to break into security first.”

“You’ll use this when you get into the main security room.” Hana tossed a small drive up and down in her hand. “This contains a virus that’ll temporarily deactivate their security system. We can’t totally deactivate it without alerting them of your presence, so you two need to make it quick.” 

Gabriel nodded. “How long will the virus run?”

“An hour, give or take,” Hana said, leaning back into her chair. “You’ll need to retrieve it on the way out, too; otherwise the whole ‘temporary virus so we’re relatively untraceable’ thing will be pointless.” 

Jack nodded, switching to the blueprints of the first floor. “Vishkar hasn’t set a curfew on the capital, but we still need to be cautious. Hana will drop us off about three blocks from the embassy and we’ll go through the alleyways to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. The alley will take us to the side entrance of the building’s first floor, which one of us will need to hotwire. The main security office will be about five yards from the entrance if we go down the hallway to the left.” 

“There’s a regular guard patrol that goes around the hallways in a counterclockwise motion. I can give you two a heads up on the best time to get inside,” Hana cut in. “When you’re in the main security office, you’ll need to knock the security guard out and plug the drive in so it can work its magic.” 

“Once the virus takes the nonhuman security out, we’ll take this path through the hallway until we hit the stairs.” Jack pointed at the screen. “This part will be a little more risky since we’ll pass more guard patrols, but once we’re at the stairs, we just need to get to the third story of the building. The ambassador’s office will have two human guards standing at the entrance. One of us will make a small distraction so we can hit them both with a sleep dart and get into the office.”

“This is the only time you’re allowed to engage with human security,” Hana warned. “Otherwise, it’s too suspicious to have a bunch of dead or passed out guards with everything else seemingly fine.” 

“Once we’re in the office, look out for any correspondence relative to the Vishkar’s plans on taking over the system,” Jack added.

“So, really specific things,” Gabriel quipped. Jack rolled his eyes, looking unamused.

“Almost all information will be helpful to us. This includes communications from the head of Vishkar government to institute martial law on all civilized planets. If we’re lucky, the correspondence will include details on what they’re planning next and will give us a way to take them down.”

“Yeah, so like, no pressure,” Hana snickered. She cleared her throat and continued. “After you download relevant correspondence, get back into the main security office and unplug the chip and leave the same way you came. I’ll be waiting about five hundred yards east of the embassy in a large alleyway and we’re homefree. Anyways, even though this is purely reconnaissance, it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your combat skills. Just in case.”

“Inspiring words, Officer Song,” Gabriel said dryly. Hana waved her hand dismissively.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, let’s get some food before we get you to the training area,” Hana said, grabbing Gabriel’s hand and leading him out to the common area. 

“Is training really necessary?” Gabriel asked, disgruntled.

“I mean, considering you’re doing a stealth mission in hostile territory and you haven’t done military operations in like, centuries, I’d say so,” Hana said. “And considering that I’m literally paid to make sure you’re safe, it’ll make me feel better if I know you can actually shoot at a target.” 

“I -- wh --” Gabriel sputtered. “I just shot a hostile aircraft out of the sky last night! I’m pretty sure that counts as shooting at a target!” 

“I didn’t see it, though,” Hana sniped. “Humor me. Plus, you think I’m going to trust _Jack_ with your security?”

“Oh, so he’s _Jack_ now?” he said snidely. 

“It’s one less syllable.” Hana shrugged. “Plus, Common isn’t my first language, and he came up with that entire plan last night. Which,” she added begrudgingly, “is a pretty damn solid plan. Even if he made me write the code because he doesn’t know how.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re getting soft with him.” 

“Jeez, are you deaf? I literally just insinuated he’s always been incapable of protecting you in particular.” Hana rolled her eyes and punched Gabriel’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, old man, I’ll always be on your side, even if it’s dumb.” 

“...Thanks?” Gabriel wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. They entered the kitchen and Gabriel pulled two bowls from a shelf, which Hana filled with some sort of porridge sitting on the stove. He inspected the contents and sighed. “Definitely didn’t expect to be doing stealth ops, especially at this age.” 

“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t expect to be running a stealth operation when I accepted the assignment to be your chief of security.” Hana slung a leg over the back of her chair and took a mouthful of the porridge. “And yet, here we are.”

“Unfortunately,” Gabriel muttered under his breath. Hana frowned and nudged him.

“Hey. No one saw Vishkar coming like that. There’s nothing we could’ve done to stop it,” she reminded him gently.

“I’m just.” He gestured at nothing, frustrated. “There were so many signs they were up to something. The drop in their exports to Numbani. Sending less aid when Hanamura had their last uprising. Withdrawing from the Overwatch Humanitarian Agreement and the Ecological Nature Accords. We never questioned it, Hana, and now they’ve played us to the point where our planets are under their _martial law._ ” 

Hana swallowed noisily and stabbed her spoon in Gabriel’s direction. “Here’s the thing, old man. Like, five different government intelligence groups had the same intel we had, and they didn’t suspect anything either. So, no more beating yourself up anymore for this kind of shit. Got it?” 

Gabriel huffed a laugh and gave Hana a lazy salute. “You got it, Officer Song.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> three things:
> 
> 1\. this fic is being beta by the bestest of best betas [luke](https://skiesovertatooine.tumblr.com). i completely forgot to credit him for picking up on the world's dumbest typos and for being a grade A cheerleader!
> 
> 2\. this fic is finally finished! in my four month career as a fanfic writer this is the longest thing i've ever wrote at ~41k. anyways, there's no need to worry that i'll miss an update because i'm behind on writing stuff!
> 
> 3\. fun fact of the chapter: i only titled chapters because i thought of a dorky title for the last chapter and i figured i needed to title all the chapters for consistency.


	4. Dummies and Blasters

The basement of the bunker was cold, drafty, and confusing as hell. Gabriel privately wished that he’d taken Hana with him so he wouldn’t get lost. 

“I see that I’ve been graced by the presence of Rogan’s prince yet again,” Director Vaswani said in a bored tone. “What do you wish of me today?” 

Gabriel offered his best diplomatic smile as he pulled up a chair. “I’d just like to chat.” 

“Well then.” Vaswani raised an eyebrow and pressed her lips into a thin line. “Chat away. I apparently have all the time in the universe if you refuse to return me to Vishkar.” 

“Then correct me if I get anything wrong.” Silence. Gabriel sighed and shuffled through the files on his tablet. “Alright, Satya ‘Symmetra’ Vaswani. Twenty-six years old and the youngest and most brilliant Director of Design Vishkar has even seen in a few hundred years.” 

“I apologize, Prince Gabriel, I’m not sure where you intend to go with this,” she said without a hint of apology, tapping her fingernail on her knee.

“Tell me about your childhood.”

“I’m sorry?”

Gabriel gave her a slight smile. “C’mon, Satya. Can I call you Satya?” Silence. “I’ll take that as a yes. Satya, I grew up as a royal, which means I grew up with the best, well, _everything_ my planet had to offer. The best education, military training, medical treatment, the works. _You,_ on the other hand, grew up in Hyderabad, one of the most infamous of Vishkar’s slums.”

“Not anymore,” she said with a gleam in her eye. “Under my direction, I have eradicated poverty from my planet, which is more than what your government has ever done since its formation.” 

“I’ll give you that,” Gabriel acquiesced. “Under _your_ direction, Vishkar has had unprecedented growth. It’s incredible, really. I mean, out of all the children that are hand picked to go to The Vishkarian Government Academy, you’d have to have one hell of a drive.” 

“Your assumption is correct,” Satya said. “I have seen firsthand the chaos humanity is capable of. I intend to mold it to my own perfected design.” 

“So you created the Exagora Protocol to extend your design to the system?”

“The Exagora Protocol was already in production when I was recruited as Director. I merely expedited the process with my research and planning.” 

“Research?” Gabriel asked.

“Creations, really,” Vaswani said with a smirk. “Drugs to calm them down enough for people to listen to reason. Cognitive reprogramming for the more… resistant ones.”

Gabriel shifted in his chair. “So, brainwashing, essentially.”

Vaswani’s smile faltered a bit before giving him a deeper sneer. “No. The chemicals and programming aren’t strong enough for that. As I intended, so they truly learn the errors in their ways.” 

“But if it was, it’s for the good of humanity, right?” 

“Yes.” Despite this, she still looked unsure. 

Gabriel offered Vaswani a smile. “Thank you, Satya. I look forward to the next time we talk.” 

“I wish I could say the same, Prince Gabriel.” Gabriel decided to ignore that and waved before he exited the room and headed to the training area, his mind racing. _Training. Focus on training. One thing at a time, Reyes._

The training area was empty. Excellent. If Hana was right and Gabriel _was_ a crappy shot, he wouldn’t have to face Hana’s “I told you so” looks.

Gabriel picked a small, sleek blaster that felt nice and weighted in his hand. Not quite as nice as the blasters manufactured on Rogan, but decent nonetheless. He made his way to the range. _Here goes nothing,_ he thought, sucking in a deep breath.

_Pow, pow._ The blaster fired off two shots, leaving behind two smouldering holes in the middle of the training bot. Gabriel felt his mouth tug up into a smug smile and aimed at the training bot again. He fired off the rest of the clip and instinctively reached to load a full clip. _Click. Pow pow pow._ Adrenaline sang through his veins as he reached for a dart gun and dual wielding shotguns, the pile of destroyed bots steadily growing. 

“Good to see that you still have some fight in you, Gabriel,” Reinhardt called from the entrance of the training arena. Gabriel turned around and smirked. 

“Always nice to know all that training my parents made me do didn’t go to waste.” 

Reinhardt chuckled and patted him on the back. “We have a fight training simulator, if you’d wish to practice hand to hand or close quarter combat.” 

Gabriel’s eyes lit up. “Yeah?”

Reinhardt nodded and headed towards the center of the room, pressing a few buttons. A humanoid robot dropped down and a cool computer voice recited, “Training Dummy Level 5 preparing for combat in five seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.” The dummy began to attack Reinhardt, who easily fended it off. 

With a final _bang,_ Reinhardt managed to toss the dummy clear across the room, grinning and spread his arms wide. “Impressive, no?” he said as the robotic voice announced the end of the training sequence.

“Very,” Gabriel said approvingly. 

“Jack’s ingenious design. Now,” Reinhardt said, oblivious to Gabriel’s sudden coldness, “the operating system is quite intuitive. Here’s where you can select the difficulty settings, I would recommend you start with level 3 as it has been a while for you, the number of dummies you wish to fight, which weapons you choose the dummies to fight with… And there we have it, my friend.”

A dummy dropped to the middle of the floor and took a fighting stance. “Training Dummy Level 3 preparing for combat in five seconds,” a voice coolly informed him. “Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

“Good luck!” Reinhardt called as he stepped towards the side of the room. 

_Shit,_ Gabriel thought nervously as the dummy lunged at him. He instinctively retaliated with a punch to what he guessed would be the robotic equivalent of the solar plexus, wincing a little as his knuckles crashed against its smooth metallic body. In response, the dummy kicked at his kidneys. Gabriel wheezed lightly. _Jesus fuck, that was painful._

“Be careful,” Reinhardt warned. “It’s surprisingly intelligent.” 

Gabriel nodded grimly, stepping forward to smash his foot on the dummy’s. It stumbled backwards a bit, giving him an opening. _Perfect._ Gabriel smirked and relished in the crunch of the dummy under his fists and legs. The dummy fell to the ground and Gabriel smashed the remains of it with a final stomp. 

“Training sequence completed,” the robotic voice said as the floor opened and collected the pitiful remains of the dummy. 

“Well done, Gabriel,” Reinhardt said approvingly. Gabriel flushed under the praise and exertion. “You are welcome to try the training dummies with different weapons in our arsenal. Don’t train too hard so that you can’t complete your mission tomorrow!” Reinhardt winked and patted Gabriel on the shoulder before leaving the room. 

Gabriel spent the next few hours experimenting with the program. Higher levels set to them both using hand to hand combat, another with close quarter gun fighting which he found _particularly_ satisfying, more ranged combat with small barricades meant to simulate furniture…

He didn’t realize how long he’d been sparring until he heard Hana clear her throat behind him. 

“I see you’ve started without me,” she pouted.

Gabriel shrugged apologetically, slumping exhaustedly onto the floor. “Less work for you, I suppose.”

“I’ll say,” she said approvingly. “That last sparring drill you ran was nutty.” Gabriel preened a bit. “But AI will never beat an actual human.” 

“Hana, no,” Gabriel groaned.

“Hana, yes,” she said viciously. 

Gabriel grumbled. “Fine. Give me a minute to remember how breathing works, and then we can spar.” 

“Yes,” Hana hisssed. “You are going _down,_ old man.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes but didn’t bother replying to her taunt. “How’s the hacking program going?”

“Finally done,” she sang. “I tested it against four different simulations and it worked how I want it to. Assuming you and Jack don’t get caught, the program will work great.” 

“Good. Had a talk with Vaswani before I came in.” 

Hana raised an eyebrow. “How did it go?”

“Still angry as hell for kidnapping her. Got her to open up a bit about her education, some vague bits on how Vishkar is going to achieve system domination and how they’re all doing us a favor. So, you know,” Gabriel shrugged, “the usual stuff.” 

“Sounds like what was like when we took her down last night. It’s like talking to a brainwashed victim.” Hana frowned. “She also seems pretty convinced that they’re coming for her, too.”

Gabriel raised a brow. “And you don’t?”

Hana shrugged. “From what I’ve gathered through eavesdropping in diplomatic meetings, Vishkar is really utilitarian. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already replaced her.”

“I suppose,” Gabriel conceded. “But she’s still Satya Vaswani. Every president before Korpal and Korpal himself agree she’s their brightest and most ingenious Director Vishkar has had for the past century.” 

“I guess,” Hana said, slouching and crossing her arms. “I never really took them for the sentimental kind, though.” She perked up. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Gabriel sighed. He was going to get his ass kicked so hard. 

“Nice. Let’s start with a stealth takedown.” Hana pulled Gabriel up to his feet and spun around so she wasn’t facing him. She pulled out her tablet and started tapping at it. “Whenever you’re ready, you can attack.”

“Got it.” Gabriel crept behind Hana, taking care to roll his feet to be as quiet as possible. One strike, and…

Hana unceremoniously threw Gabriel on the ground with one hand, not even bothering to let go of her tablet which was held in her other hand. “Nice, dude, you almost got me,” she cheered. 

“ _Almost_ got me?” he wheezed on the ground. “Also, when we get home, I’m making sure the culinary staff aren’t feeding you all steroids.” 

“Psh, if only.” Hana plopped down next to him. “Stealth is all about speed, awareness, and diversion. Brute force is always good, but you can’t always rely on it. Which is why I’m more suited for reacting to it, not being stealthy, if that makes sense. Ready to try that again?”

“Yup.” Gabriel clambered back onto his feet. This time, he waited a bit longer, skirting around the barriers placed around the room to keep Hana at her toes. 

“I know what you’re trying, you fucker,” Hana called behind her, sounding irritated. 

Gabriel wrenched her arm back and swept her feet from under her, allowing him to put her in a chokehold. “You were saying?” he said archly as he released her. 

“Touche, man,” she wheezed. Gabriel released her with a smirk. “I feel like it’s pointless to tell you to actually choke someone until they’re unconscious, in case it ever comes to the point where you need to do this.” 

“Got it,” Gabriel said, wincing as his neck cracked weirdly. “Wanna run through this again a couple more times?”

“Nah.” Hana’s eyes sparkled dangerously. “I wanna do hand to hand combat. Stealth takedowns aren’t going to matter if you’re going to get caught, so you might as well practice with a real life human.”

He sighed. “There’s no way I’m getting out of this, is there?”

“Nope!” She accentuated the “p” with a pop of her gum. “Get up, old man.” 

Gabriel groaned and settled into a fighting stance. “Whenever you’re ready.” Hana grinned and jabbed her fist into his stomach. “Jesus,” he wheezed.

“The only rule is to defeat the other opponent,” she taunted. “C’mon, can’t you take a twenty year old gal down?” 

Suppressing a grimace, Gabriel swung at her, only to stumble as she dodged his attack effortlessly. Hana took advantage of his position and sent a hard kick to his hip.

“I thought you were supposed to protect me, not beat me to death,” he grumbled.

“Less talk, more fighting!” she screeched. Gabriel suspected she was having far too much fun with this as she threw another punch at him, trying to knock him off balance. Gabriel gritted his teeth and stood his ground. 

Right. Where Hana had strength and endurance, he could outclass her in speed and body weight if he stayed unpredictable. She tended to favor her upper body, so…

Hana grunted as Gabriel began to target her legs, trying to use his larger frame to increase the probability of hitting her, all while trying to skirt around her attacks. If he could get to her side or behind her, then his plan would work. Hopefully.

_Bingo._ Just for a brief second, Hana stumbled forward, not predicting that he would duck as she lunged at him. Delivering a blow to her knees, Hana fell down hard onto the mat, Gabriel standing triumphantly above her. She rolled onto her back and tossed her hands above her head.

“What’s the point of hiring me if you can fend for yourself?! I’m expendable. I’m just here to look pretty,” she wailed dramatically.

Gabriel laughed as he offered a hand to Hana, who (thankfully) accepted. “If it makes you feel any better, you definitely gave me a run for my money. Plus, who else is going to be both the angel and the devil on my shoulder, giving me terrible advice and do my dirty work?”

“Hey, my advice is _golden,_ old man,” she whined, springing back up on her feet like they weren’t even sparring. “Although ‘dirty work’ is pretty accurate, if ‘dirty work’ means securing kidnapped government officials. Which _is_ pretty fun.” 

“Hana,” a voice snapped from the entrance of the training arena. Gabriel craned his neck to see Jack storming towards them, looking displeased. “I thought you were preparing Prince Gabriel for combat operations, not gossiping with him.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “We just finished sparring, I’m plenty ready for combat.” 

Jack raised an eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed. “Are you, now?” 

“Why don’t we find out?” Gabriel said, his voice soft and dangerous as he stepped in to Jack’s space.

“If you guys want to spar, then just say so,” Hana said, sounding bored as she examined her fingernails. “Less foreplay, more fighting.” 

Gabriel felt himself flush. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack also looked suspiciously red. “Fine,” Jack spat out. “First to hold the other down for ten seconds wins.” 

“You got it,” Hana said lazily. Gabriel nodded, not quite sure what to say. “Three, two, one… Fight!”

The way Jack stood made it very clear that this fight was all or nothing. Something cold and dark burned behind his eyes as he caught Gabriel by surprise with a sharp punch to his ribs. Gabriel retaliated with a punch to Jack’s shoulder, quickly followed by a kick to his knee. Gabriel’s heart hammered quick and heavy in his chest. 

Another heavy punch, followed by an elbow to his shoulder blade. _God, that hurts,_ Gabriel thought, wincing slightly. _Right, focus._ Gabriel swung his fist towards Jack’s chest, only to be met with air. 

“Not so quick, are you?” Jack growled. “You _have_ gotten soft.”

Gabriel grimaced. Jack was unpredictable and fought on instinct, making him hard to read. He relaxed a little bit, allowing himself to get a feel on Jack’s movements. Something about the way Jack jeered at him, the way he bared his teeth at Gabriel, was somehow vaguely familiar and sweet. 

_Now’s not the time to get sentimental, Reyes,_ he chastised himself. Right. Even after almost twenty years of little contact, Jack still favored to keep his opponent at a reasonable distance, allowing his long limbs and momentum to do the work for him. Gabriel smirked and prepared himself to attack. 

Apparently, Gabriel’s tactic of “get really close to him and go on an all out offense” worked pretty damn well against him. Jack flailed a bit, not quite being able to anticipate Gabriel’s flurry of attacks before catching Gabriel’s knee with his stomach, causing him to stumble. Looking rather unwilling to go down without one last fight, Jack grabbed the collar of Gabriel’s shirt, pulling Gabriel down with him. Gabriel landed none too gracefully on Jack’s _really warm and really broad_ chest, barely catching himself with Jack’s hands pinned to the floor.

“Always knew your moves, Jack, and I always will,” Gabriel taunted.

“Um.” Jack had turned beet red, clashing horribly with his blond hair. Gabriel could feel Jack’s labored breath on his own face. Wait.

Gabriel scrambled up, feeling his face also turning a bright red. Hana was missing from the room. _Goddamn that sneaky little fucker._ He eyed Jack warily, who was still looking at him with what looked suspiciously like a mixture of awe and fear instead of contempt. Still flushing horribly, he hesitantly extended his arm to help Jack up.

Thankfully, Jack accepted his hand and pulled himself up to his feet. An awkward silence stretched between them. 

“Good to see that you still got it,” Jack blurted out. 

Gabriel was taken aback. “Thanks. Uh.” Gabriel floundered, his thoughts going a million miles a minute. “You do too. Glad you’ll have my back tomorrow night.” 

Jack gave him a small, brief smile before ducking out of the arena, murmuring something about monitoring Vishkarian guard patterns. Something in Gabriel’s chest fluttered, and for a single moment, he let it dance before squashing it down in favor of shooting more training bots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my rbb partner drew art for her favorite moment in this chapter! it's the second piece [here](https://pixiepunch.tumblr.com/post/167982659567/i-participated-in-the-reaper76bigbang-reverse)!
> 
> fun fact about the fic: i derived both gabe's and jack's planet names from latin, the one language i'm comfortable with (besides english). rogan is derived from the accusative declension of "rex" (regem) which translates to king, which is a little wink wink nudge nudge reference to the english translation of gabe's last name. wirtin is loosely derived from "virtus" which translates to virtue. i think i chose it based on one of reinhardt's voicelines? idk october is a distant memory in my brain rip
> 
> also ty to my fellow latin buddy [clotilde](https://veneficasum.tumblr.com) for catching my latin mistake
> 
>  
> 
> edit: i have now decided to use my writing tumblr! [it's right here](https://asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com), so feel free to follow where i muse about people being gay and write short rambles that i feel would be too short/clutter my ao3 page.


	5. Mission: Kind of Possible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a brief scene in this chapter that may be construed as sexual assault. Both parties consent to use PDA in order to avoid suspicion. If that makes you uncomfortable and you wish to avoid this scene, you can stop reading at "Gabriel nodded, his heart racing..." and resume at "'I think they're gone...'"

One evening later, Gabriel found himself tucked in the back of a cargo hovership with Jack squished next to him and Hana driving at the front of the ship. The anxiety in the ship was palpable: Hana’s fingers skittered nervously on the steering wheel while Jack nervously stroked a lock of his hair and fiddled with his earpiece, and if Gabriel focused past the loud humming of the hovership Hana re-outfitted to keep tabs on the embassy’s security, he could hear the sound of his own heart thudding heavily in his chest. 

Hana’s voice cut through the tension. “Alright, we’re at the drop off point. I’d ask if you’re ready, but there’s no point in that, so…” Gabriel and Jack stared at her expectantly. Hana rolled her eyes. “That’s your cue to leave, gentlemen.” 

Sighing deeply, Gabriel pushed the back door open and dropped onto the ground, Jack following suit behind him. He raised an eyebrow and gave Jack a look. Jack nodded and led Gabriel down the poorly lit alleyway. “The embassy is going to be about a five minute walk. On the plus side, Vishkarian military shouldn’t be patrolling the area so we’ll be able to go undetected. Ready?” 

“As much as I’ll ever be,” Gabriel sighed as he tugged his hood up. “Let’s move.” 

The walk was tense, and Gabriel felt that it would be slightly inappropriate to try and make small talk. Even if they were on slightly better terms (if slightly better terms could be defined as stolen moments in hallways filled with strange looks and stuttered words), now wasn’t really the time to ask about the weather or the going-ons of Jack’s life as they were about to break into a foreign planet’s embassy. The alleyway didn’t offer that much relief either; weird odors wafted around them while patches of fog danced at their feet, stirring slightly as Gabriel and Jack strode through the condensation slicked path. 

“We’re here,” Jack breathed, tugging Gabriel’s arm as they reached a polished white building, not unlike the one Korpal and his minions tried to trap them in a few days back. Jack knelt onto the ground and began to fiddle with the wiring of the panel. Gabriel bounced his leg up and down as he leaned on the building, anxiously glancing at the humming streets and wincing at the hollow tolls of the alleyway. A few moments later, the door opened with a gentle _woosh._

“Okay, nice, you’re in,” Hana said excitedly. “You guys need to move fast, you have a guard that’s about to get to the turn of the hallway. Be sure to stay in the security cameras’ blind spots, too.” 

“Copy that,” Gabriel breathed. The hallway was almost identical to the one on Vishkar, and the mere memory of being trapped in that building made adrenaline thrum through his veins. He winced when their steps echoed in the cold and sterile hallway, and fiddled with the chip in his pants. 

“Shit,” Jack hissed, pulling on Gabriel’s arm to step out of view of a camera. They pressed against the wall the camera was mounted to and waited with baited breath as it slowly swiveled towards them. “Alright, let’s go.” 

Gabriel fought back a shiver as they turned into another section of the hallway, walking past a window that framed a band of Vishkarian soldiers as they made their patrols. 

“Alright, the security office should be a few meters ahead,” Jack whispered, anxiously tapping at his tablet’s screen that showed a map of the embassy.

“Hana, are there going to be any cameras we need to look out for?” 

“Negative. Just find a way to distract whoever’s in there so you can take control of the security feeds.” 

“Copy that,” Gabriel said grimly, skittering to the other edge of the door to the office, pressing himself to the wall. He turned to Jack. “Ready when you are.”

Jack nodded and gave a light knock on the door. Gabriel held his breath as light footsteps became louder and the door opened with a quiet _whoosh._ An unsuspecting guard stepped out, frowning. Jack wasted no time and shot a sleep dart at the base of the guard’s neck. Gabriel caught the guard in his arms and dragged him into the security room, placing them gently in their abandoned chair. He tossed the chip to Jack, who easily caught it and inserted it into the CPU. 

“Alright Hana, hope this works,” Jack said. 

“Of course it will,” Hana said, offended. “It just needs a few seconds to infect the system.” True to her word, the security screens flickered for a brief moment and made a quiet powering down noise before seemingly resuming their feed. “Okay, you guys are clear. Still be on the lookout for guards patrolling, though.” 

“Roger that,” Gabriel said, straightening up. 

“I copy,” Jack muttered, cracking his neck. “Let’s go.” 

Even with the security cameras under their control, Gabriel still felt anxiety spike as they made their way down the hallway, tugging on Jack to press against the wall every time he heard the quiet _click click click_ of the guards’ boots.

“You’re so damn cautious,” Jack muttered, sounding irritated.

“It never hurts,” Gabriel shot back. “Is the stairway coming up soon?”

“Yeah. About ten meters after taking the left turn at the next junction.”

“Good, because I’m about to jump out of my damn skin.” They continued the walk in silence until they reached a door outfitted with a glass panel. “Fucking finally.” He wrenched the door open and took a deep breath. 

“You two ready for ten floors?” Hana snickered. 

“No,” Gabriel and Jack said at the same time. Hana laughed again, this time a little louder. 

“Why couldn’t we take the elevators again?” Gabriel complained.

“Higher chance of you two getting caught by security,” Hana singsonged. “Can’t risk that now, can we?” 

“No,” they both conceded. 

As they climbed the steps, the pristine floors began to blur into a monotonous blob of blinding white light and if he was being honest, the spiraling case was giving Gabriel vertigo. He bit back a groan as they turned to another flight of stairs, clutching the bannisters for support.

“You okay?” Jack turned around, his head blocking the wall light, framing his blond hair and giving him an angelic appearance. Gabriel momentarily forgot how to breathe. _Not exactly the time to be mooning over a guy,_ he chastised himself. 

“Yeah,” he gasped. “Hana, what floor are we on?” 

“Eight,” she replied, still snickering. “You’re almost there, old man.” 

“Not that old,” he grumbled.

“Old enough to get winded on eight flights of stairs,” Hana countered. 

“I’m pretty sure anyone that isn’t in as good as shape as you are would get winded walking up eight flight of stairs,” he snarked back, starting to climb the stairs again. Jack snorted. Gabriel sulked. “You got something to say, Jack?” 

“Nope,” Jack said, suppressing what sounded like a laugh. 

“Asshole.” Okay, now Jack was definitely laughing. Something twinged happily in Gabriel’s chest, even if it was at his own expense. 

“We’re here,” Jack breathed, sounding slightly winded. It made Gabriel feel a little bit better. Slightly.

“Thank god,” he gasped. Gabriel slumped against the wall and tried to catch his breath. “Gimme a second, will you?”

“Make it quick,” Jack warned. Gabriel nodded and took several deep breaths. 

“Alright, let’s do this.” Gabriel knocked the back of his head against the wall and stood up. 

“This is the most important part, gentlemen, so be _very_ careful,” Hana cautioned. “There’s two guards standing outside the office. You know what to do.” 

“Right,” Gabriel said. He gently eased the door open, squeezing through the door with Jack right behind him. As they pressed themselves against the hallway wall leading to the ambassador’s office, Jack shot him a look and Gabriel nodded in return. Hesitantly, Gabriel knocked against the wall.

“What was that?” a distant voice asked.

“I dunno,” another responded. “You gonna check it out?”

The first voice snorted. “Hell no, man, it’s your turn.”

A sigh. “ _Fine._ ”

Gabriel pressed a hand against his mouth and toyed with the handle of the sleep dart gun. Jack gave him a reassuring nod. The footsteps became louder and as the guard came into view, he fired and watched in satisfaction when they crumpled onto the ground. 

“Carl, what the fuck?” The first guard started running towards them and Jack shot another sleep dart at them, who collapsed on top of their coworker. 

“That was easier than expected,” Gabriel remarked. Wasting no time, they jogged down the small length of the hallway. Gabriel sucked in a breath as he pulled the door leading into the office gently and let it out when it opened with little resistance. The office was sparsely decorated with different exotic plants and a large desk with a sleek computer off to one side. Gabriel plugged a drive onto the computer. 

“Let’s make this quick,” Jack said grimly, sliding behind the desk and scrolling through different logs of correspondences. He clicked on a file marked “Exagora” and a long list of communications sent to different ambassadors and officials from the Vishkarian government, with dates, military tactics, and information on foreign government officials and monarchs of the planets in the Overwatch Alliance. 

“Bingo,” Gabriel breathed. “Hana, we have about 500 separate threads of messages that look relevant. Do you have an approximate time on how long it’ll take to download everything?”

“Depends on how long each thread is.” 

“Thirty, forty messages in each thread?” 

Hana sucked in a deep breath. “About twenty to forty minutes, probably. Sorry, guys, better get moving.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Gabriel grumbled, clicking to copy them into the flash drive. After a few moments of silence, Jack sighed. 

“I’m gonna go check on those two guards outside,” Jack declared. Gabriel hummed absently, watching the computer screen as the progress bar inched across it. 

Gabriel got up and paced around the room a few times, absently inspecting the various plants. He sighed and returned to the desk and groaned when he saw that the drive was only a tenth of the way down. 

“Doing okay?” Jack walked into the room lightly stretching his arms. 

“This thing is taking _forever,_ ” Gabriel said, flopping onto the floor. “Vishkar is going to take over the _entire galaxy_ before we download everything onto the drive.”

“The entire galaxy.” Jack looked like he was biting back another laugh.

“The entire galaxy,” Gabriel giggled. Their laughter faded quickly, leaving an awkward silence between them. The seconds dragged by. Jack yawned, and out in the hallway, one of the sleeping guards let out an undignified snort.

“So.” Jack broke the silence. “Um. How has Jesse been doing?” 

“Oh. He’s been doing okay,” Gabriel said hesitantly. “Has one hell of an aim. Almost started a war between Rogan and Hanamura by trying to challenge Crown Prince Hanzo to a shooting contest.” Gabriel rolled his eyes and gave a fond huff. “Damn kids don’t know how to flirt when they’re in public. He’s a fast learner, though. Once he gets married and is ready to take over, Rogan will be in good hands.”

Jack snorted. “Your government’s still instituting that obsolete law?” Gabriel felt a stab of annoyance.

“It’s worked for the past few centuries,” Gabriel snapped heatedly. 

“So basically, you won’t be fully accountable for your decisions by never getting married and skipping over to Jesse while you run the whole government behind him,” Jack said snidely. 

“And you have a problem with that _because_?” Gabriel stood up and stood toe to toe with Jack. So much for their mending relationship. “The last time _I’ve_ checked, you’ve been pretty busy worrying about Wirtin and not foreign planets’ political systems for the past twenty years.”

“Dammit, Gabriel, I’m on _your_ side,” Jack growled. “You deserve the responsibilities _and_ the throne and you’re letting _one_ stupid thing hold you back? You don’t even want to have an arranged marriage so you can actually _change_ things?”

“My decision to marry is none of your business,” Gabriel said coldly, “And may I remind you, _Prince John,_ it is _my_ decision.” 

And really, it was true. It was his decision to spend more than a quarter of a century pining for a man who would never reciprocate his feelings because the man in question hated him for nearly four fifths of that time, and it was his decision to never marry someone he couldn’t love because it wasn’t _Jack._ So Jack could take his misguided bravado and shove it. 

Jack rolled his eyes and turned away. Gabriel shot him one last glare and fought back tears as he returned to his perch at the desk. The silence between them was even more awkward, and it didn’t help that Hana was staying radio silent to minimize the sour mood that permeated the office. 

After what felt like an eternity, the computer beeped gently to signal the end of the download process.

“Thank god,” Gabriel muttered, yanking the chip out a bit more forcefully than needed. 

The walk back to the security office was just as awkward with Jack stalking in front of Gabriel, not even bothering to be sure Gabriel was following him. Thankfully, the hallways were clear, so Hana’s forced charm was minimal at most. 

“Alright team, get this done. Grab the chip and you’re basically free,” Hana cheered as they entered the security office. Jack grunted in response.

“Got it,” Gabriel said wearily. Right. Grab the chip, aaaaaaand…

Someone behind them yawned and Gabriel felt a cold stab of fear. _Shit._

Jack and Gabriel turned around to find the guard slowly coming to their senses.

“Goddammit, we gotta go,” Jack snarled, snatching up the chip and sprinting out of the room. Gabriel didn’t need to be told twice and followed him. 

“What the… hey, hey wait! By the order of the Vishkarian Military, come back here!” the guard cried behind them. Over the roar of his heart, Gabriel could hear them radioing the other guards on the ground floor and the screams of their frustrations as their security system didn’t respond. 

“Halt!” A guard in front of them steeled himself as they charged toward him.

“I don’t have time for this bullshit,” Jack snarled, frantically reloading his sleep dart gun and firing it at the offending guard. The guard crumpled, and Gabriel only felt a little bad when he accidentally stepped on his fingers.

They burst through the door they came in from, and adrenaline sang in Gabriel’s veins as he heard Vishkarian security not far behind.

“Sorry guys, but you need to lose them before extraction,” Hana said apologetically. “It’s too risky for you to split up, so, Jack, I hope you know your way around the alleyways.”

“We’ll make do,” Jack said grimly, turning around a random corner. Gabriel tried not to skid too much on the slippery asphalt. 

Jack lead him through the alleyways, growling in frustrations as the sounds behind them didn’t let up. Gabriel was secretly terrified that they would get lost in the labyrinthian paths, or worse, get caught and captured by Vishkarian security, rendering the entire time spent just out of Vishkar’s reach useless. Jack skidded around another corner, and Gabriel suppressed a groan and bout of nausea. Jack ducked behind a dumpster, pulling Gabriel towards him. 

“Alright, I think we might have lost them,” Jack panted, tugging his hood back over his bright red face. “I don’t think they recognized or got any identifiers off of us, but we need to wait a few minutes to make sure they aren’t getting smart.” 

“Got it,” Gabriel gasped. “Got a plan in case that happens?” 

Jack grimaced. “You’re not going to like it.” 

“Try me. There aren’t a lot of things that don’t beat being captured by a hostile government,” Gabriel shot back, leaning against the wall. 

Jack hummed in agreement. “Well… PDA usually gets people to look away pretty quickly. So…”

“There are easier ways of saying you want to fuck me, Jack,” Gabriel said snidely (even if it was true.) 

“You got any other ideas?” Jack snapped. In the not so far distance, Gabriel could hear yelling and footsteps approaching. Crap.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” Gabriel mumbled, pulling Jack up to his feet. He rucked their tops up to give them a disheveled appearance and undid his own pants a bit. Jack flushed even more. “Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now. This _is_ your plan, after all.”

“No, it’s just…” Jack shook his head. “It’s nothing. Keep your hood up so they’re less likely to recognize you,” he warned. 

Gabriel nodded, his heart racing as Jack pressed up against him, unsure, and the footsteps and yelling got even louder. Jack threw an anxious look towards the source of the noise, biting his lip. Gabriel rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Jack, it’s _fine._ ” Jack gave him an apologetic look.

“I’m so sorry,” Jack murmured before latching his mouth onto Gabriel’s. 

At that moment, Gabriel knew he was in way too deep. 

Almost everything about this was straight out of fantasies he has had since he was a teenager. Jack, pressed against him like he couldn’t get enough of Gabriel, hungrily mouthing at his jaw, his fingers trailing up and down Gabriel’s body and leaving what felt like trails of fire. Gabriel, being able to clutch Jack like a lifeline and card his fingers through Jack’s soft hair, feeling like he was the center of Jack’s universe, and Jack was the center of his.

Except for the part that it was all fake. 

Gabriel was almost disappointed when he could hear the sounds of Vishkarian guards retreating, his heart pounding traitorously in his chest.

“I think they’re gone,” he whispered, choking back a pleased groan as Jack’s teeth scraped gently across the skin of his neck. Jack hesitated for a moment before tearing himself away from Gabriel like a used bandage. 

“Right,” Jack said, refusing to make eye contact with Gabriel as they straightened their clothing out. “Time for extraction. Let’s move.” 

The walk back to Hana was even more awkward than the one from the ambassador’s office, if that was even possible. The echo of dripping condensation and their steps rang in Gabriel’s ears as Jack navigated through the alleyway with ease, eventually getting to the alleyway where Hana was waiting. 

“About time,” she yawned. “You got the goods?” 

Gabriel rummaged through his pants, silently praying he didn’t drop it during their rush to get out. He held it up triumphantly. “Right here.” 

“Nice,” Hana whistled appreciatively as she headed towards the driver’s seat. “Let’s go, it’s way past my bedtime.” 

“Gabriel.” Jack gently placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, effectively blocking him from entering the hovership. “I, uh. Want to apologize.” 

That was new. “I’m sorry?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jack swallowed and looked Gabriel in the eye. “My comments in the ambassador’s office were uncalled for. I have no right to comment on your marital status or romantic relationships, regardless of my intentions. It isn’t any of my business to give unsolicited advice to governments I am not apart of.” 

Gabriel blinked a few times. “Well. You did mean well, but. Apology accepted.” 

Jack gave him a small but dazzling smile, giving Gabriel’s shoulder a light squeeze before making his way into the hovership. Gabriel took a moment to appreciate the cool air against his flushed face.

“Hey, old man, did you forget we’re not on the loosest of time schedules?” Hana hollered from the driver’s seat. “You’re only forty-two, so you can’t be going senile yet.” 

“Sorry,” he called, fighting against a grin as he joined Hana and Jack onto the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thank you to the dailyr76 server for reading _that_ section of the fic to try and make it clear that jack and gabe were both consenting. as someone who had first hand experience in sexual assault, i don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable and if you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to comment or message me on tumblr. 
> 
> hana's quip on gabe getting winded when walking up eight flights of stairs is partially based on my days when i lived on campus at my university. i lived on the eighth floor and the elevator broke (a lot), which forced me and my friends/roommates to take the stairs pretty frequently. at the time, i was doing long distance running and didn't get really winded when walking up eight stories. my friends enjoyed the experience of climbing eight flights of stairs a lot less than i did.
> 
> main: prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com  
> writing: asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com


	6. Revelations and Confessions

“Holy fucking shit, how much info is on here?” Hana breathed as she scrolled through the seemingly endless communication threads. 

“Enough to confirm their plans and incriminate them, hopefully,” Gabriel said, peering over her shoulder.  
“This is going to take ages to comb through, though.” 

“Then we split up the work,” Jack suggested. “Put in some keywords and filter and sort them out. We’ll get things done faster that way.” 

“You got it.” Hana popped her gum. “You’ll need to give me a few to copy everything and make a program to sort through it, though. Come bother me in like, half an hour, ‘kay? In the meantime, Mama’s gotta work.” 

Gabriel sighed. “If you say so. Call if you need anything.” Hana nodded, not bothering to look up from the screen. He got up, not quite sure where he was going. Jack followed Gabriel out, seemingly unsure with what he supposed to do with himself. 

“This doesn’t feel right,” Jack said, carding his hand through his hair. 

“Care to elaborate?” Gabriel asked. 

“We’re too vulnerable. They have to know it was us that broke in.” Jack paced around. “And they have to have realized by now that we didn’t take anything physical, so they probably know we just took information, and who else would break in but _us,_ and the longer Hana takes, the longer they’ll have to write a smear campaign to use against us and…”

“Jack.” Gabriel gently grabbed Jack’s arms. “Breathe. Please?” Jack nodded and gripped Gabriel like a vice and knelt his head on Gabriel’s chest, letting out a quiet sob. “Shhhh,” Gabriel hummed soothingly. 

Jack shuddered and took a deep breath before pulling himself out of Gabriel’s arms. “Thanks,” Jack said quietly. “It’s just. Stress, probably.” Gabriel chuckled. 

“Yeah.” The hallway was quiet for a moment. Then, “Target practice?” 

“What?” 

“You know, target practice? To take your mind off of everything,” Gabriel offered. Jack gave him a half grin.

“Sure.” Jack knocked his shoulder. “Loser gets the winner drinks?”

Gabriel laughed, falling dangerously close to their old camaraderie. “What drinks? We’re in _your_ planet’s security bunker, hiding from an invading military that wants to take over the system.”

Jack shrugged and led him to the training arena, nudging his shoulder at Gabriel. “There’s probably a couple of bottles of something alcoholic in here somewhere. That’ll be a decent placeholder until we can go out and you can buy me a drink.” 

“Bold, Jack.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow as they entered the arena. Jack tossed him a pulse rifle, grinning slyly. “Ready to eat your own words?”

“In your dreams,” Jack taunted, grabbing a rifle for himself. “Person with highest bot count in half an hour wins?” 

“You got it.” 

Jack nodded, momentarily distracted by programming bot movements. The cool computer voice came back on. “Starting thirty minute 1v1 target practice in three seconds. Three. Two. One.”

A bunch of bots dropped down and Gabriel smirked before he began to track a nearby bot with his rifle. The steady thudding of the rifle in his hands was somehow therapeutic, and the pulse ammunition made a pleasant _clink_ against the metal body of the bot. The bot crumpled to the ground and a small _ding_ rang. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack grimaced.

“Falling behind, Jack?” Gabriel heckled. Two more _dings_ rang out.

“Double kill,” the computer announced.

“You were saying?” Jack asked, his voice smug. Gabriel rolled his eyes and focused again on mowing down the bots. More bots clanked onto the floor and the air slowly filled with the smoke of the bots’ remains, the light _chick_ of them reloading their rifles, and quiet _dings_ , undercut with the smooth, modulated tone of the AI.

“Round ending in ten seconds.” Gabriel glanced at the score. Jack was ahead of him by two points. _Dammit._ Even with their tentative friendship, Gabriel still had his pride on the line. He gritted his teeth and focused on two bots moving in tandem, hoping to close the gap. “Five. Four. Three. Two. One. End.”

Gabriel held his breath as he lowered his rifle, wincing a little as he realized how stiff his arms had become.

“Tie,” declared the computer.

“What??” Jack and Gabriel cried. Jack glared at the computer panel like the tie was its fault. 

“Rematch?” Gabriel offered.

“I’d hate to break up the love fest,” a voice drawled from behind them, “but you actually have stuff to do.” 

Gabriel bit back a laugh as Jack jumped, startled by Hana’s voice. “You ready for us?” 

“Yup,” Hana said, popping the “p” as she beckoned them to follow her to the operations room. “Not sure how you want to divide up the workload, but it’s basically split into three categories: infiltration and military ops, government and economics, and subjugation, with the last one being the biggest with three hundred separate threads. Lots of science jargon, too.” 

Jack hummed, deep in thought. “I’m guessing my brother wanted to do government and economics.” 

“You’d be correct. Personally, I’d prefer to handle infiltration and military, but I’m literally paid to be here so I’m not going to be too fussy.” 

“I can handle subjugation,” Gabriel cut in. Hana raised an eyebrow. 

“You sure about that?” 

Gabriel nodded. “You’ll work faster with stuff that interests you, and we don’t have much time. Also, I like science. I can bring it up the next time I talk to Vaswani, since she apparently had a hand in that too.” 

“If you insist,” Hana shrugged. “Jack?”

“I can help Gabriel sift through the science mumbo jumbo,” Jack offered. He colored immediately. “If you’d like the company.” 

“It wouldn’t hurt.” 

“Good, then we all have it settled,” Hana said decisively. “Reinhardt takes the boring government stuff, I get the exciting military details, and you guys get the semi interesting science stuff.” When they reached the operations room, she leaned over to unplug two small drives labeled with the letter “S” along with four tablets. “Try and keep neat notes, ‘kay? Can’t defeat Vishkar when you don’t have your info properly sorted,” she winked. 

Gabriel made a face. “If you say so. Hear anything from Ana or Jesse and Fareeha lately?” 

Hana shook her head. “They’ve been a bit MIA lately, but based on surveillance footage of the Wirtinian Palace, it looks like Ana’s just being cautious, and I’m guessing it’s the same case for Fareeha and Jesse. I’ll call both of you if any one of them contacts us. Now move,” she said, giving them both a gentle push towards the door. “We all have written communications to get through. Move and report back when you’re done.” 

“Got it,” Gabriel called as Hana shut the door in his face. He turned to Jack and made a face. “Ready to dissect a bunch of dry, boring communications the entire night?” 

“Long, dull reading and taking notes on it? I thought that was your dream,” Jack teased, giving Gabriel a nudge. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and laughed. “It’s _politics_ , and it’s literally what I was raised to do. I might as well derived some sort of enjoyment from it.” 

“That makes sense, I guess,” Jack hummed agreeingly. He brightened. “Hey, I wouldn’t turn down that drink now, since boring political stuff isn’t exactly my forte.” 

“What drink?” Gabriel yelped. “If I recall correctly, it was a _tie._ ”

“Yeah, so, to make it fair, we both buy each other drinks,” Jack reasoned.

Gabriel raised his eyebrow. “In a bunker.” 

“A placeholder until we can do it properly.” 

“You aren’t letting this go, are you?”

Jack laughed and pulled him towards the kitchens. “Not at all.” 

“Am I going to regret this?” Gabriel asked as Jack pulled two glasses and a bottle of whiskey from a shelf. 

Jack set the bottle and glasses down with a _chink_ and gave Gabriel a mischievous smile. “Hopefully not.” 

Gabriel sighed and pulled up his two tablets while Jack poured a sizeable amount in their respective glasses. “We’ll see.” 

The work, as Jack predicted, was boring as hell and took ages to get through. The hours crawled by like a funeral march, and Gabriel supposed that the alcohol was no help for the hand cramp and headache that was slowly forming as he flicked through each thread. Each of them droned on and on with specifics on how each method worked, which groups to use it on, the side effects, how to tweak the formulas to ensure maximum compliance…

Huh, that was weird. Sure, he expected to see Vaswani’s notes included in them, but a lot of them contained edits and crossed out data with each scientist’s own notes on the side. Upping the concentration of the pharmacore, greater intensity of light and sound during doctrination processes, intentionally triggering certain side effects, the maximum dosage, lethal amounts for certain populations...

“Jack,” Gabriel said, shaking Jack’s arm. “Are you seeing this?”

“Yeah, this is seriously messed up,” he breathed, running a hand through his hair. 

Gabriel shook his head and pressed his lips together. “No, look. At the bottom of all these lab notes,” he said while flipping through the files, “Vaswani’s signed off on all of them. But _here,_ ” he continued as he pulled up the edited files, “Someone else has wrote in their own notes on her stuff. And there’s more stuff that’s almost identical to what she was doing, just with different quantities and intensities. They’re adjusting her research to be more efficacious.” 

Jack frowned. “What does that have to do with anything? Wouldn’t she want, you know, a strong efficacy and just leave the fine tuning to her subordinates once she gets a general idea of what she wants?”

“Nope,” Gabriel said, scooping up his tablets. “I’m getting answers. Now.” 

Gabriel ignored Jack’s calls as he marched towards the holding cells, determined. The hallways seemed to swim through the haze of the alcohol, but he’d be damned if he couldn’t get to the bottom of this. 

Jack caught up to him, his face flushed with alcohol and exhaustion. “The hell are you doing?” 

“Something isn’t right,” Gabriel muttered as they descended the stairs. “Vaswani’s all about the greater good for everyone in the system. This doesn’t look like what she wants her empire to be like.”

“Wait, what?” Gabriel ignored him.

“Vaswani,” he snapped as he swung the door of her cell open, wincing at the door’s loud bang and the flash of brightness when the lights switched on. Vaswani scowled from her cot, rising slowly.

“I didn’t realize the Roganian and Wirtinian government were practicing sleep deprivation torture on their prisoners,” she remarked. “And Prince Gabriel, I believe you were quite insistent on using my first name the last time we spoke.”

“This is important.” Gabriel opened the files and held it up against the cell wall. “These are your notes, correct?” 

“You are correct.” 

“Then what the hell,” he fumbled, switching to another document and correspondence thread, “is this?” 

Vaswani’s face paled as she skimmed the heavily annotated and adapted lab notes. She rearranged her features and squared her shoulders at him. “Notes. On my research. To ensure the safety of my soon to be subjects, I’m sure.” 

“Director Vaswani, you can’t possibly believe that,” Jack interjected. 

“As the Director of Design, I assure you I can draw my own conclusions.” Even with those words, Vaswani looked unsure. 

“You’re coming to them with a biased mindset,” Gabriel said, stepping forward. He gave Vaswani a pleading look. “Satya, just… Please. Look at this through our eyes.”

Vaswani’s expression turned even icier. “I see a government fearing new methodologies.”

“Well that’s funny, because I’m looking at a government that’s scared of its own damn people,” Gabriel snapped. 

“Our ‘own damn people,’ and both of yours for that matter, are capable of chaos that will ruin the system,” Vaswani said, her jaw tense and eyes suspiciously shiny. “It is our duty as government officials to create order.” 

“Through borderline slavery?” Gabriel cried. Silence. Gabriel sighed and rubbed his face and deposited the tablet in the slot typically used to pass food. “You’re a researcher, Satya. I hope you come to the same conclusion that I have.” 

Vaswani didn’t say anything, but she eyed the tablet with reserved trepidation. Jack rolled his eyes. “If you’re worried about it exploding, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to harm you.” Gabriel gave Jack a scandalized look and herded him out of the room. 

“Good night, Satya,” Gabriel called over his shoulder, switching the lights off. As Gabriel shut the door, light peeked back under the crack, and he allowed himself a small smile before turning to Jack.

Jack sighed. “Well. That just happened.”

Gabriel nodded and followed Jack down the hallway, his face grim. “Best case scenario, Vaswani has a change of heart and helps us out.”

“Worst case scenario, she still hates us, and we have to keep her here until this whole mess resolves.”

“No, the worst case scenario is she breaks out and helps Vishkar expedite their system takeover,” Gabriel muttered darkly. 

Jack’s laugh rang out brightly in the dimly lit hallway. “Guess it’s my turn to tell you to breathe a little. Give Vaswani some credit, Hana gave me a rundown of your conversation with her yesterday morning.” 

“Not sure how I feel to see that you’re still assuming the best of everybody,” Gabriel said with a faint smile. 

“Only let me down once,” Jack said under his breath. Gabriel’s smile dropped and flinched. 

“Are we going to talk about that right now?”

Jack was silent for a moment as they reached the kitchen, glasses and tablets abandoned at the table, and flashed a tentative smile. “We’ll see how I feel after another drink.”

“I respect that,” Gabriel conceded and poured him and Jack a generous amount of whiskey. He raised his glass in Jack’s general direction. “To the potential of our planets not being taken over by Vishkar based on the work of three very dedicated government officials and one security officer.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Jack said with a snort and downed half his glass, to Gabriel’s amusement (and horror). 

Gabriel took a sip of his own drink. “You’ve never told me what you’ve been up to.” 

Jack swallowed another mouthful of whiskey and set his glass down a bit more forcefully than needed. “Is that a request to talk about myself or just an observation?”

“Both.” Gabriel reached over to refill Jack’s empty glass.

“About as much as Reinhardt has told you, I’m sure,” Jack said with a shrug. “After he married Ana, I decided to step down as Strike General so she could take over. Better for morale, I think, for the soldiers to have a familiar face that hasn’t been in the royal family for as long as they could remember.” 

Gabriel hummed in agreement. “I suppose.” 

“Stepped down to be her second in command, took over security, which allowed me to avoid government responsibilities even more,” Jack continued, swirling his glass before taking another drink. “Even when we were, well, you know. Never was a good politician, probably never will be, and I’m fine with that. Almost cried in relief when Reinhardt declared Fareeha his heir.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t have anything to do with that,” Gabriel said wryly. 

Jack snorted. “Had to pretty much beg him and Parliament to make it happen. Well. Reinhardt was easier to convince, but Parliament had so many reservations against having his stepchild as his heir that even his goddamn bastard half brother seemed like a more appealing option.” 

Gabriel chuckled. “Yeah, I get it. Those former Roganian senators never did forgive me or my parents for the whole trans thing, even after Jesse came into the picture.” 

“To our siblings’ children, who allow us to shirk all biological responsibilities expected of the royal family,” Jack said. He raised his glass again, the whiskey sloshing around the sides.

“Cheers,” Gabriel agreed and took another sip. He frowned over the rim of his glass. “Slow down, dude, this isn’t a drinking competition.” 

Jack squinted and pointed an accusing finger at Gabriel. “I’m an adult. Also, my bunker, my rules.” 

“If you say so.” 

“Where was I,” Jack muttered as he reached for the whiskey bottle. “Right. Reinhardt and Ana raised one hell of a kid. Fareeha’s going to be a better politician and monarch than I could be. Wirtin’s going to be in good hands,” Jack slurred. He paused to take another deep drink. “Taught Fareeha almost everything she knows about being a military leader behind Ana’s back.” Jack giggled at that.

“That’s brave of you,” Gabriel commented.

Jack nodded his head vigorously, his face turning pink from the alcohol. “She scares me, but Fareeha’s going to need to learn one way or another, and I’m the only one with time and the will to teach her, so.” He shrugged half-heartedly. “Did some odd military-related negotiations when Ana needed to be somewhere else. Showed up to interplanetary functions only if I really had to.”

“You’ve been keeping busy,” Gabriel noted, watching Jack pour himself another measure of whiskey and swallowing half of it. With the amount they drank before confronting Vaswani, Jack was probably be drunk by now. “No time for yourself outside of politics and family, then?”

“Nope,” Jack said, popping the “p.” He lolled his head in Gabriel’s direction and gave him a loose smile. “Don’t wanna. If I keep busy then I’ll forget everything else.” 

“Everything else?” The second the words came out, Gabriel regretted it.

“Mhm.” Jack sipped from his glass and scowled to find it empty. Gabriel took pity on him and poured more whiskey into his glass, despite his own better judgement. “Gaaaaaaaaaabe,” Jack grumbled.

Gabriel froze. No one has called him that since he cut ties with Jack. “Yes?” he whispered, not quite trusting his voice. 

“Why do you hate me?” Jack whined. “I’m sad whenever I don’t get to see you. Which means I’m almost always sad. But I also get sad when I see you and all you do is ignore or glare at me.” 

“We’re doing this now, aren’t we?” Gabriel sighed. “You know, I’d prefer to do this when we’re both sober.” 

Jack frowned, his facial expression more suitable for a toddler and shook Gabriel’s arm insistently. “But if we do it later, I’m gonna chicken out. Let’s talk about it now.” 

“Fine,” Gabriel said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Where the hell do you want to start?”

“Why did you think I abandoned you?” Jack mumbled, burrowing his head into Gabriel’s shoulder.

“I think that’s a reasonable conclusion to come to when someone leaves you with a bunch of space pirates that boarded your government’s ship,” Gabriel said drily. “Especially when you ask them to stay with you.” 

Jack giggled and unsuccessfully tried suppress a hiccup. “Silly Gabe, I’d never abandon _you_ ,” Jack cooed, awkwardly patting Gabriel’s face. Gabriel snorted.

“Fat lot of good that sentiment does now,” he muttered. 

“It’s true,” Jack whined. “I thought it would look so cool if I snuck out and took down their comm and fighter systems, and then busted in the ship’s control room to kick their asses and save you.” 

Gabriel laughed without humor. “You did one hell of a job, getting caught an hour into your little op. Oh, and also not telling me that you were planning to get us out and leaving me terrified and surrounded by angry space pirates.”

“You would’ve been so impressed, though,” Jack insisted. “Then after that…” His voice trailed off and he turned a light shade of green and stumbled to the kitchen sink. Gabriel wrinkled his nose as Jack emptied his stomach into it, sighing as he got up to assist Jack. 

“Told you to slow down,” Gabriel groused, rubbing his back and rinsing the sink down. Jack hummed in agreement and made himself fairly upright. “Alright, I think that’s enough for tonight.”

“Nooooo,” Jack complained, giving a longing look to the nearly empty bottle on the kitchen table. Gabriel rolled his eyes and slung Jack’s arm around him and led him to the general direction of the bedrooms. The walk was relatively quiet, save for Jack’s occasional directions.

“Right, this is you,” Gabriel said as they arrived at the door to Jack’s room. Jack groaned and untangled himself. Gabriel privately missed Jack’s warm body pressed up against his. He hesitated. “You never told me what would happen after your hypothetical one-man rescue mission.”

“Oh!” Jack brightened. “You were gonna swoon into my arms and then I was going to tell you how I feel, and hypothetical you was going to be so impressed by my rescue mission that you’d agree to go on a date with me.” 

Gabriel’s heart froze. “A date?”

“Yeah, like what someone does when they love another person,” Jack said absently, fiddling with Gabriel’s collar. 

“Love?” Gabriel’s voice got dangerously high. 

“Mhm,” Jack hummed, his face far too relaxed for someone who just admitted his repressed feelings from nearly twenty years ago. “But it didn’t work and now you hate me because I was too proud to admit I fucked up and too scared to tell you why I wanted to do it in the first place. That’s okay, though.” 

“Why?” Gabriel whispered. 

Jack took Gabriel’s hand and nuzzled it, his lips brushing against Gabriel’s knuckles. “Always accepted you’ll never love me, even though I always will.” Jack took no notice to Gabriel’s shaking hands. “Was privately really happy when you said you didn’t want to marry so I’d never have to watch the love of my life say his vows to someone that isn’t me. But you deserve better than that. Than me, I mean,” he murmured, sinking his face into Gabriel’s palm. 

“You shouldn’t. Love me, I mean,” Gabriel said faintly.

“Too bad!” Jack sang. “My feelings, my choice. And if you have any tips on falling out of love for someone that’s been hating you for about twenty years, I don’t want them. Now or ever.” 

Gabriel’s heart sank and gave Jack a sad smile, gently cupping Jack’s face in his free hand. “You deserve to be happy, Jack. With someone that isn’t a mess and hasn’t tried to ignore you for the better part of two decades.”

“But I _am_ happy. Just watching you from the sidelines,” Jack pouted, leaning into Gabriel’s touch. “I tried to marry myself off to a nobleman once, just to spite my dumb feelings. Didn’t feel right, betraying you like that, even if you don’t even like me. So, I guess I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life.” 

“ _What?_ ”

“Mhm!” Jack looked far too chipper at the thought of resigning himself to being a bachelor for all of eternity. He gave Gabriel’s hand another gentle brush with his lips, humming contently and oblivious to the trail of fire he left on Gabriel’s hand.

Gabriel jerked his hand back, his stomach churning and mind racing a mile a minute. He could feel himself tremble as he stepped back. “Right. Well. Good night, Jack.” 

“Good night, Gabe,” Jack singsonged as he clumsily stumbled into his room. 

Gabriel refused to let himself think until he was in the safety of his own room, slamming the door shut and stripping before falling into the bed. 

Breathe in.

Jack loved him when they were young, stupid, and apparently cowards. 

Breathe out. 

Jack _still_ loves him, even after Gabriel’s shitty treatment towards him. 

Breathe in. 

Jack just admitted he’d never love another person that wasn’t him, Prince Gabriel Reyes of Planet Rogan.

Breathe out. 

This evening, for the first time ever in his life, Gabriel had admitted to himself that he would never marry anyone because they were not Prince John “Jack” Morrison-Wilhelm of Planet Wirtin, the love of his life.

But Jack deserved far better than Gabriel, the one who essentially married himself to his job, the one who started the rift between them, the one who was nothing but rude, callous, and cold to him. 

Gabriel hastily wiped at the tears running down his face and burrowed into his pillows, silently cursing himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the late update, i'm off of school for the next few weeks so my updating time will be a little... varied. i'll do my best to be consistent in the future. 
> 
> fun fact: this work did not have a serious title until maybe two days before my assigned posting time, because apparently "it's like the star wars prequels but gay" is not an acceptable title. the actual title is an almost ripped line from blue oyster cult's "burnin' for you."
> 
> shameless plug: the zine i've been modding for the past few months is ready for preorders! check it out [here](https://dailyr76zine.tumblr.com/post/168593334113/pre-orders-are-open-not-getting-any-younger-is-a) if you want some wholesome r76 content ;)))))))))
> 
> main: prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com  
> writing: asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com


	7. Hail Mary

The next day came far too quickly, and if Gabriel had anything to do with it, he’d spend the entire day moping in his bed.

Hana, however, had other ideas. 

“You never reported back to me last night,” she said accusingly from the doorway. Gabriel glared at her, his head pounding. 

“Change of plans,” he mumbled as he rolled over and pulled the duvet over his head. Hana stormed to him and ripped it from his head and scowled at him. “What the hell do you want, Hana?”

“What _I_ want to know is how our prisoner got her hands on our tablet with top secret information we stole from her government.” 

“That’s a valid question.”

“Are you going to give me a valid answer?”

“Nope.”

“Fine then, I guess I’ll just have to go and call for Jack to answer my questions,” she said dramatically, turning her head towards the door. “JA--” 

Gabriel slapped a hand over Hana’s mouth and groaned. “You’re such a dirty player. Fine, I’ll tell you.” 

“Damn right you are,” she muttered. “Alright, first things first. Anything of interest in those communication threads?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel sighed. “Public executions for government officials that try to resist to make an example. The rest of it is mostly psychological and neurological talk about subduing and ‘reprogramming’ people who won’t accept their new overlords.”

“So, stuff a baby would expect when their planet is under siege.” 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Gabriel said, rubbing his hand across his face. “Went down to Vaswani’s cell last night after finding out they were messing with her research. Apparently, she thinks they’re just tweaking it to determine the safety of her stuff, but Jack and I are pretty confident they’re just looking for a way to… you know.” He waved his hand around. “Make them more obedient faster.” 

“And Vaswani’s not happy about that?” Hana asked, an eyebrow quirked up.

Gabriel nodded. “She’s all about ‘the greater good for humanity’ and actually helping people. If you ask me, it’s a major disconnect from what Korpal probably wants, which is probably resources.” 

“That makes sense,” Hana hummed while picking at the stitching of the duvet. “Any reason why Jack looks like he got run over by a truck?”

“Aaaaand that’s it for today’s q&a. Good night, Hana.” Gabriel pulled the duvet over his head again, trying to drown out Hana’s squawks. 

“Don’t run away from me, old man,” she protested. “How are you in your forties and basically the head of a planetary government but also run away from the slightest hint of interpersonal conflict that doesn’t extend to politics?!”

“Two different skillsets, Hana. Two vastly different skillsets.”

A pause. Then, “Do you wanna talk about it? To, you know, vent or something.” 

Gabriel hesitated. “You ever spend your entire life believing in something that isn’t true? And then realizing your entire world is a fucking sham because you’re an idiot?”

“Nothing comes to mind,” Hana said, looking like she was suppressing a giggle. “Although I’m sure Director Vaswani can sympathize.” 

“Don’t tell me I should air out my dirty laundry to a hostile government official,” Gabriel groaned.

“God, no.” Hana looked scandalized. “Why would you talk to her when you can tell everything to _me,_ your head of security and your confidante?” 

“Nosy lil’ bugger,” Gabriel mumbled, reaching to give Hana an affectionate head tousle. Hana slapped his hand away, wrinkling her nose. He sighed. “Long story short, Jack’s been in love with me for the last twenty years, minimum, and is refusing to move on from it because my shitty ass is the love of his life, apparently.”

“And that’s a problem because…” 

“I’m an idiot that pushed him away for twenty-ish years and therefore don’t deserve his love and affection? It’s common sense, Hana.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ll probably make things a lot easier if you just talk it out with him.”

“Okay, but consider this: I bottle up my feelings, and then one day, I’ll die.” 

“And you say _I’m_ dramatic.”

Gabriel grumbled and burrowed into his bedding. Hana patted his head.

“You wanna go interrogate Vaswani, sport?” Hana asked, her voice a tad too saccharine. 

“I hate you,” Gabriel groaned. “But yes.” 

Hana giggled and sauntered towards the door. “Grab something to eat from the kitchen and meet me outside of her room in fifteen, ‘kay? And…” She hesitated before nodding to herself. “Go easy on yourself. He did kinda do a dick move and he never tried to reach out and say his piece, so don’t blame yourself entirely.”

“Sure.”

“No, I mean it, Gabriel,” Hana said insistently. “You’re not a bad person. And neither is Jack. Yeah, you both had your issues, but.” Hana shrugged. “Doesn’t mean you two both deserve to be unhappy when there’s an easy solution to the problem.”

“Which is?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. 

Hana rolled her eyes. “Getting together and being old and gay for the rest of your lives.”

“Hmmm,” he hummed. “Nope. Sounds like too much confrontation and feelings.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Just keep that in mind, idiot.” 

“You got it,” he said. He wasn’t lying. At all. 

After Hana left, Gabriel made a face and clumsily grabbed a set of clothes, ignoring the way his head thudded dully and the way the light glared off the smooth surfaces. Eventually, he managed to crawl out of his room and into the kitchen to snag a stray protein bar and a cup of something warm and caffeinated, praying he wouldn’t see anyone.

“Ahh, good morning, Gabriel!” Reinhardt called from the table, sitting next to a very hungover Jack.

Goddammit. Gabriel sighed and turned towards them, his best politician smile pasted on. “Morning, Reinhardt, Jack.” Reinhardt beamed at him and Jack made a quiet noise of acknowledgment. “Long night reading through Vishkar correspondences?” 

Reinhardt waved his hand dismissively. “It was nothing. Only took me a few hours at most, and it was straightforward anyways.”

“Anything of importance?” 

“Yes, but unsurprising. As we both know, Vishkar is a visionary place for science and engineering but are limited by their resources.”

Gabriel leaned against the countertop and sipped his drink, his interest piqued. “I’m aware. As I recall, Vishkar is fairly reliant on imports.”

Reinhardt nodded. “From what I could gather from the correspondences, President Korpal wishes to see an increase in research to expand space exploration out of the system.”

“That’s ambitious.” Gabriel winced as some of his drink burned the tip of his tongue. “But I’m guessing they lack the resources and labor for that scale of work they want to do.”

“Correct. So President Korpal’s goal is to derive a greater amount of resources, mainly imports and labor, to continue to support the project.”

“I’m guessing that holding power over an entire system must have its perks, too.”

Reinhardt chuckled. “It sounds like a nightmare, but I cannot pass judgement on others’ interests.”

Gabriel hummed softly. “Well, that gives us a decent amount of answers for us. Thanks for reading through all the boring economic stuff.”

“Not a problem, my friend,” Reinhardt beamed. “And it’s all for the greater good, no?” 

“Yeah. Greater good.” 

“Anything interesting come up for you last night?” Reinhardt asked, taking a sip of something. 

Gabriel choked on his drink. “I’m sorry?” 

“In the files?” Reinhardt raised an eyebrow, looking a little too innocent. “Jack imbibed too much last night and isn’t in the best of dispositions to talk.” 

“Right,” Gabriel said faintly. “Um. A lot of psychological techniques, neurological drugs, that kind of stuff. I, uh, had reason to believe they were tampering with Vaswani’s research without her consent.”

“The plot thickens. I assume you’ve informed her last night?”

“Yeah, and we left a tablet with the communications on it for her reading pleasure,” Gabriel said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hana and I are going to check on her.” 

Reinhardt’s face lit up. “Do you mind if I come along? I haven’t spoken to her since the night we brought her in.” 

“Yeah, sure. I’m actually on my way to meet Hana, if you’d like,” Gabriel offered.

“Excellent,” Reinhardt beamed. He clapped Jack on the shoulder. “I’m sure you can manage, brother.”

“Hmmmm. Too loud,” Jack mumbled from the nest of his own arms. Reinhardt smiled apologetically as he stood up and followed Gabriel to Vaswani’s cell. 

“So I believe my brother has mentioned his feelings to you last night,” Reinhardt said casually as they walked down the hallway. Gabriel choked on his protein bar. 

“I’m sorry?”

Reinhardt gave him a disappointed look. “Come now, Gabriel, I overheard the conversation you had with Jack last night in the hallway. And you know I’m aware of your feelings for him.”

“I-I-I…” Gabriel sighed and slumped his shoulders. “It’s complicated, Reinhardt.” 

“What’s so complicated?” Reinhardt asked, clearly confused. “You have feelings for him. He confessed that he has feelings for you. You both are in anguish because of each other. The most obvious solution is to resolve it by acknowledging your feelings and allowing him to court you.”

“No one ever talked about courting each other last night, Reinhardt,” Gabriel said wearily. “We just have feelings for each other, that’s it.” 

“That’s not what I heard, Gabriel, and you know it.” Reinhardt stepped in front of Gabriel, effectively blocking the hallway. “He’s loved you for more than twenty years, and I like to think I know you well enough to tell that you’ve been in love with him just as long as he has, if not longer. Please do not insult my intelligence by saying ‘it’s just feelings.’” 

Gabriel pressed his lips together and crossed his arms, defensive. “Reinhardt, I can’t just waltz into his life and sweep him off his feet. You would be the first to know how badly I hurt him when I ended our friendship between us, there’s no going back to that.” 

“I am also the first to know that Jack is extremely prideful,” Reinhardt said gently. “The rift between you two is mutual, I assure you. And who says you must return to how you both were if you decide to restart your friendship? You have changed, Gabriel, and so has he. Enjoy the things that hasn’t changed and celebrate the faults that have mellowed out with time.” 

“He deserves better,” Gabriel said dismissively, ducking to get around Reinhardt. They were already late as it is, and Hana was going to be pissed. 

“And you don’t think he’s come to the same thought for you?” Reinhardt asked, easily catching up to Gabriel. “It’s not truly a question of what you think you deserve, you know.”

“It’s not that easy, Reinhardt.” 

“Only if you make it that way,” Reinhardt reminded him gently.

Gabriel swallowed. “Does he know?”

“That he confessed? He suspects, but is unsure if he simply dreamt it or not. About your feelings? I doubt it. And I will leave the onus of confessing your feelings on you, my friend.” 

“Thank you, Reinhardt,” Gabriel murmured gratefully. 

“That is not an excuse to avoid the topic,” Reinhardt warned as they approached the cell room. “Ah, Hana, please tell Gabriel he’s being unreasonable.”

“About the whole Jack’s in love with Gabriel and Gabriel’s in love with Jack but Gabriel refuses to do anything about it thing?” Hana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Gabriel knows how I feel about that whole thing. He won’t listen to me, and with the way you’re talking about it, I’m guessing he isn’t listening to you too.” 

“You both are traitors,” Gabriel muttered.

“We wouldn’t be if you listened to us for once in your life,” Hana sniped.

“I do listen to you, I just never take your advice because it’s usually terrible,” Gabriel shot back. “Also, can we please focus on interrogating Vaswani instead of arguing about my personal life?”

“Only because time is of the essence for Director Vaswani’s situation,” Reinhardt said, his face full of mirth. “After that, Hana and I will continue to harass you about it.”

“Perfect,” Gabriel groaned as he wrenched the door open. 

“Your Royal Highnesses, Officer Song,” Vaswani greeted them warily. She looked terrible: her usually perfect coif was in disarray like she has been running her fingers through it, there were deep circles underneath her bloodshot eyes, and her nails looked bitten and raw.

“Satya,” Gabriel said pleasantly, secretly relieved to melt back into a persona that didn’t have to deal with stupid interpersonal relationships. Reinhardt and Hana also murmured their greetings. “I take it you’ve done your reading last night.” 

“I have,” she said slowly, her arm flapping behind her back. “I am… inclined to listen to your argument.” 

“Inclined?” That was new. 

Vaswani’s eyes were cold and determined. “I require proof. In exchange, I will provide you with intelligence about the military base manufacturing chemical agents meant to subdue that you will raid and sabotage.”

“And if we’re wrong about Vishkar military tampering with your research and sabotage the base anyways?” Hana asked, looking unconvinced. 

“Then Vishkar will pay the penalty for questioning and interfering with my research by having their vision briefly halted, and nothing else.” 

“Damn,” Hana said, popping her gum. “That’s cold, girl. What kind of intelligence are we talking about?”

“Layouts, guard timings, structural weak points, research, and information I wish for you to obtain for me.” 

“How do we know you aren’t leading us into a trap?” Gabriel asked skeptically.

Vaswani faltered before recomposing herself. “By faith.” 

Gabriel snorted. “Faith isn’t that convincing of an argument, Satya.” 

“Then I’m afraid I will not be of any help to you,” she said dismissively. Even with that tone, there was still a hint of fear behind her eyes. 

Reinhardt placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “May we discuss this outside?” 

Gabriel looked at Hana, who nodded decisively. Reinhardt gave Vaswani a reassuring smile as they stepped outside.

“She’s lying,” Gabriel said immediately. Hana gave him a skeptical look. “What? It’s clearly a trap. We go in, we get caught, Vishkar wins and everything we’ve done goes to waste.”

“I’m sorry, have you seen her?” Hana snapped. “Vaswani’s not a politician, she’s the brains.”

“So?” Gabriel said disbelievingly.

“Dammit Gabriel, she’s not an actor, she’s scared out of her mind that her own damn government is using her own tech against the very people she wants to help!”

“Hana has a point, Gabriel,” Reinhardt said placatingly. “Director Vaswani doesn’t have anything to lose by assisting us. And we have everything to gain by assisting her.” 

“Are you two not hearing about the whole trap part?!” Gabriel retorted. 

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our backs are kinda up against a wall right now,” Hana said, rolling her eyes. “Jack’s notes say that all chemical agents they approved for the takeover is currently undergoing manufacturing, and based on the timetable production should be almost done. If Vaswani can hand us the damn factory on a silver platter, we can take out their supply _and_ their method of production and also gain Vaswani’s trust at the same time.” 

“Even if we leak the communications now, Vishkarian military will be more than able to subdue the public long enough for them to ship their chemical agents out and doom us all.” Reinhardt reasoned. 

Gabriel sighed, frustrated. “Neither of you are going to let up on this, are you?” 

“Not at all,” Reinhardt affirmed with a smile. Hana smiled sweetly and popped her gum as she shook her head.

“Dammit,” Gabriel muttered. “Fine, we take Vaswani up on her dubious at best intel and wing it from there. Happy?” 

“Yeah, actually,” Hana said, reaching for the door. “No time like the present, am I right?” 

Vaswani was pacing the floor of her cell and shaking her arm as they entered, only stopping when she noticed them waiting expectantly. “Well?” 

“We will happily work with you, Director,” Reinhardt said smoothly. “I hope our trust is not misplaced, much like the trust we once had with your government.” 

“It will not,” Vaswani said, clasping her hands together. “Time is of the essence, so we begin now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> most of me writing this chapter was me yelling "it costs zero dollars and zero cents to communicate properly dammit." 
> 
> also this fic is almost done updating! guess i should be focusing on other projects (ie secret santa, study buddies) /sweats nervously
> 
> main: prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com  
> writing: asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com


	8. Charging It Up

“How the hell did we get ourselves into this?” Hana grumbled over the comm. 

“You were the one who wanted to go with Vaswani’s plan,” Gabriel said, irritated. Beside him, Vaswani gave him an unimpressed look. “Apologies, _Satya’s_ plan.”

“Count yourself lucky, Hana,” Reinhardt consoled. “At least it is not your second time sitting out on yet another mission.” 

“You actually want to go on another stealth mission, Reinhardt?” Jack said disbelievingly. “A stealth mission. Where you have to be quiet and therefore cannot talk your way out of things. Or initiate and engage in battles.” 

“It’s been years since anyone’s allowed me to go into battle.” Reinhardt sounded nostalgic. “I do not deny that I love my job, but the excitement! The thrill!” 

“I hope you know how unwise it is to send the reigning monarch into a hostile planet with the intent of sabotaging one of its major government facilities,” Vaswani -- no, _Satya_ \-- said uncertainly. 

“It’s okay, we have you now,” Hana chirped, “so between the two of us, we can be the brains of this operation.” 

“I’m still second in command for the Wirtinian Military,” Jack said petulantly. 

“I know what I said.” Gabriel hear Hana’s innocent smile over the comms and buried his face in his arms. 

Satya nudged him. “Please, Gabriel, we must focus.” 

Gabriel lazily gave her a thumbs up. “Alright you two, ready to steal another cargo ship?”

“No, but also yes.” Hana sounded thoughtful. “I resent the fact that you’re making me steal yet another cargo ship, but stealing from my enemies is also pretty fun.” 

“Subduing Vishkarian cargo pilots and stealing a cargo ship should not be terribly difficult,” Satya said. “Are you at the back gate?”

“Affirmative,” Jack said. “Let’s see how good your universal security codes are.”

“Universal code is nine-one-one-zero-two-nine-two-two-one-nine. And I am certain it will work.” Satya’s voice was dismissive. “And even if it wasn’t, I could get around the security system easily, as I had a hand in its update.”

Hana whistled. Satya made a face, the high pitched whine over the comms clearly bothering her. “Damn, is there _anything_ you didn’t have a hand in making?”

“The planet,” Satya replied blankly.

“Was that…” Gabriel trailed off.

“Ah, Satya, you do have a sense of humor!” Reinhardt cheered. The operations room exploded in laughter, and over the small din, Gabriel could hear Hana and Jack chuckling quietly over the comm. 

“Right, we must return to the mission,” Satya said, smoothing her face, all traces of amusement replaced with a firm line and steely determination. “Have you entered the hangar facility successfully?”

“Yup! And we’re picking out the saps we’re going to take out,” Hana sang. A small scuffling noise broke out and was silenced as quickly as it started, followed by a series of grunts. “Where’s the custodial closet again?’

Gabriel checked the map. “A couple of meters further down the hall, seven meters after taking a right turn at the next junction.” 

“Hopefully, you will not encounter anybody on your way there.” Satya tapped a nail against the pristine table. “If you do, I am afraid you will have to subdue more people.” 

“That won’t be an issue,” Jack grunted. 

“Not on a stealth mission.” Hana sounded scandalized. “A massive pile of bodies is a pretty big tip off for someone terrorizing your facility.” 

“Focus, you two,” Gabriel chastised. Jack and Hana muttered an apology and Gabriel rolled his eyes affectionately. 

“Alright, bodies deposited,” Hana gasped. “Ready for the uniform closet whenever you are, Satya.” 

“Use PIN three-zero-one to lock the door behind you,” Satya instructed. “That way, they will be unable to leave until a supervisor deactivates the override.”

“Done,” Jack said after a soft beep rang through the comms. “Uniform closet location?” 

“Backtrack to your entry point and keep walking until you reach the door labeled as such,” Satya said, swiping through the image of the map. “Make it quick, the fleet is set to leave in twenty minutes.” For a few moments, the comms were quiet save the sound of slightly labored breaths and rustling, which did nothing to soothe Gabriel’s anxiety. 

“Wha -- wait, Hana, what the hell are you doing, we’re in the middle of a _mission,_ ” Jack protested over the comms. 

“Capturing the moment, old man,” Hana giggled. “Hey you three, you got a present coming in hot.” 

Gabriel’s Roganian-issued communicator beeped. Hana sent him a selfie of her grinning brightly and flashing a peace sign and Jack looking irritated and confused, both dressed in the standard white and purple Vishkarian cargo pilot uniforms. He snorted, despite the situation they were in.

“This is going _right_ on the bottom of the end of the year card for the Royal Security team,” Hana muttered. Satya made a small noise of distress.

“Leave it for the trip between Wirtin and Vishkar, Hana, you’re going to give our dear Satya a coronary,” Reinhardt chortled. Satya gave him an uncertain but nevertheless grateful look. Hana made a petulant whining noise but dutifully clicked away to the cargo ship hangar. 

“We’re here, with,” Hana checked her communicator, “five minutes to spare.” 

“Excellent,” Satya said crisply. “Then you should have several hours to spare between your flight to Vishkar. At least one of us will be present to provide assistance if required. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more communications from my former colleagues I must read.” Satya stood up with one fluid motion and left the room. 

“I can stay, Reinhardt,” Gabriel offered. “Get some sleep.” 

Reinhardt nodded. “I will return in two hours, then. Do not exert yourself too much, my friend.” With a soft smile, he exited the operations room, leaving Gabriel in the vast space. He anxiously bounced his leg up and down, waiting for any sign that Hana and Jack were safe. Well, as safe as one could be when doing a covert operation.

“Just you and us two, old man,” Hana sighed over the hum of the cargo ship. “Breaking atmosphere in a few minutes and then we can set this baby on autopilot.” 

“This still feels too easy,” Jack said anxiously.

“Even if this thing goes south, you two are smart enough to get out of it,” Gabriel reasoned. 

“Wait, you actually have faith in us?” Hana asked excitedly. 

“Yes? Why do sound surprised that I do?” 

He could almost feel Hana shrug. “This is huge. If I were you, I would be skeptical of our abilities. Hell, I’m not you, and I’m _still_ skeptical of our abilities.” 

“Hey.” Jack sounded offended. 

“Focus on the objective one at a time, and you two will get through this,” Gabriel reassured them. “Need to do anything on your way to Vishkar?”

“Nope,” Hana said, disgruntled. “I can’t even drive the ship until we hit Vishkar’s atmosphere. The damn thing is on autopilot for six hours.” Gabriel winced sympathetically.

“I could tell you dirt on your boss,” Jack offered. 

“YES,” Hana screeched. 

“Absolutely not!” Gabriel cried at the same time. 

“Jack, I will legitimately protect you from Gabriel’s rage if you tell it to me,” Hana offered. 

“Treason!” Gabriel yelled. Hana laughed, unrepentant. 

“Deal,” Jack said. “Pick an age, three to twenty-six.” 

Hana was quiet for a moment. “Seventeen.” 

Jack’s laugh was a bit too mischievous for Gabriel’s liking. “Have you seen the holo images from that year?”

“Hell yeah,” Hana said. “Did he really wear that much eyeliner on a daily basis?”

“Nope.” Hana made a disappointed noise. “He wore _more_. The king and queen made him tone it down whenever they suspected he would be photographed.” 

“He’s just telling you lies,” Gabriel protest. He had a feeling Hana couldn’t hear him over her peals of laughter.

“Go on, don’t mind me,” Hana choked out. 

And it went on like that for the next few hours. Jack told Hana (and by extension, Gabriel) stories about them when they were younger, with Gabriel occasionally interjecting with details and his own recounts of Jack’s memories. In return, Hana offered up a few stories of her own, ranging from some of Gabriel’s not-so-finer moments to some moments to her time in the military academy she graduated from. Satya and Reinhardt drifted in and out of the operations room, offering to take over, but Gabriel waved them off, unwilling to part from the conversation. At one point, Reinhardt placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. 

“Although I doubt you would choose this time to do so, now would not be an opportune time to tell _him,_ ” he advised softly. “Please have the honor of doing it face-to-face. And not during a covert operation.” 

Gabriel bit his lip, feeling guilty. He hasn’t really given much thought about Jack’s planet-shattering revelation last night, but he still felt a twinge of sadness and nostalgic longing when Jack spoke. Gabriel sighed before giving a strained smile and nod to Reinhardt. 

“Thank you,” Reinhardt murmured before he left the room, presumably to develop a plan to leak the Vishkarian emails to the public. 

“Gabriel?” 

Gabriel shuddered out of his reverie. “Sorry, your brother just walked by to say something. What were you saying?”

“Hana fell asleep,” Jack said quietly. “It’s just us now.”

“Oh.” Gabriel laughed awkwardly. 

“Do you miss… this?” Jack asked. 

“The bullshit shenanigans? Kind of, but,” Gabriel shrugged. “We’re adults. Adults don’t really break into their government’s military stockrooms to go for a joyride and try top secret weapons still in its development stages.”

“I still maintain that that incident was your idea.”

“Semantics.”

“Also, I’d like to point out that breaking into a foreign embassy and sabotaging a foreign chemical plant kind of counts as bullshit shenanigans.”

“I guess. The difference is now we actually have a purpose for doing it,” Gabriel conceded. He paused. “Are you nervous?”

“Hey now, where’s that confidence you had in us a few hours ago?” Jack tried to joke.

“I’m being serious here, Jack. Nerves can make or break an operation.” Gabriel pressed his lips together. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re worried about me,” Jack teased.

“I am, jackass. Not sure how I’m going to get through your thick skull that I actually care about you and your safety,” Gabriel said, almost hating the way how fond he sounded. 

Jack was quiet for a moment. “I think I do know. Not particularly sure why, though.” 

“Are you asking me why I care about you?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Jack snorted. “I’m not sure why you’d care for me or my safety, really.”

“That’s a can of worms that I’d prefer to open post-mission, if you don’t mind.” Gabriel’s chest thumped anxiously. Ideally, they’d never talk about this, ever.

“Well, it was either you or Reinhardt or me, so. It wasn’t exactly a hard choice.” 

“You aren’t dispensable, Jack.” 

Jack laughed. “Now it’s my turn to tell you that I’ll prioritize you and your safety over mine any day, anytime, anywhere.”

Gabriel wasn’t quite sure why he was surprised after Jack’s love confession from last night. “Oh.” 

“I’ve killed the mood, haven’t I?” Jack said regretfully. 

“No, no, just.” Gabriel blinked hard to clear his head. “A little surprised to hear it.”

Jack was quiet for a moment. “Oh,” he breathed. “Um. Gabriel, could you get Reinhardt and maybe Vaswani for me? I want to ask them a question related to a Wirtinian security manner.”

“Uh, sure,” Gabriel said, a little startled by the sudden shift in mood. He could hear a dismissal in Jack’s voice. 

Reinhardt wasn’t difficult to find, idly chatting with Satya while gesticulating wildly. A small smile had broken out on Satya’s face, and while her posture was still perfect, her shoulders looked a little looser and her jaw wasn’t as tense as he remembered it. 

“Gabriel! Have you had enough of entertaining Jack and Hana?” Reinhardt called. Satya raised a slightly unkempt eyebrow.

“Jack wishes to speak with you two in the operations room.” From the way Satya looked at him, he wasn’t hiding his disappointment well.

“Very well,” Satya said, rising gracefully. “Reinhardt, shall we?”

“Right away,” Reinhardt said with a bow. He turned to Gabriel. “I encourage you to get a quick rest, my friend.” 

Gabriel gave him a weary smile before motioning him and Satya to the control room. His mind was buzzing too much from everything that’s transpired from the past few days, so there was no way in hell he’d be able to rest. Instead, he opted to scroll through his tablet and memorize the map of the Vishkar chemical manufacturing plant, hoping it would drown out the screaming in his own head. 

He wasn’t quite sure why he was shocked when Jack told him how much he cared or Gabriel. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was sober, or his steely determination to let Gabriel know how much he cared for him. 

Or maybe he still refused to believe anything as good and beautiful as Jack would ever re enter his life, much less have any strong feelings that didn’t end with Jack sticking a sword through him. 

Gabriel groaned and rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the tip of frustration and a migraine coming in. This would be ten times easier if he either confessed his feelings or had the option of turning back time so he’d never find out about Jack’s feelings. Or, at the very least, find out when their respective governments were not planning a revolution against a foreign planet. Gabriel looked longingly at the liquor cabinet, wondering if it would be okay to drink while running an operation.

“Gabriel!” Reinhardt called from the kitchen entrance.

Gabriel shuddered violently, not expecting Reinhardt to return that soon. “Yeah?”

“It’s time.” Reinhardt looked far too excited for this. 

“Great.” The silence between them as they walked back to the operations room was unbearable. “So, uh. What did Jack want?”

Reinhardt gave him a sympathetic smile. “It is of no importance to the upcoming mission. However, I still do wish for you both to speak openly to each other upon his and Hana’s return.”

Gabriel felt himself flush. “You got it,” he promised as they entered the operations room. Satya’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, talking to Hana and Jack in a clipped tone. 

“Excellent, you have arrived. They have arrived and are now planting charges on the other cargo ships,” Satya said as they approached her. 

“Any complications?” Not that there would be any, unless either one of them decided to get stupid. 

“Negative,” Hana panted. “All charges have been placed on the main fuel tank for maximum damage. Except for ours, of course.” 

“This is where the fun part starts,” Jack breathed. “According to the timetable, we have an hour until the cargo ships are scheduled to leave, which should be doable for us.” 

“Very well.” Satya swept a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hana, when you split up from Jack, I will lead you through this operation, as I need to give you confidential information to access my requested information. Jack, your brother and Gabriel will lead you through yours. Do we all understand?” The four of them gave varying forms of agreement. “In that case, let us begin.

“Go through the main hangar door where the rest of the cargo pilots have exited. About a hundred meters from there, locate a janitorial closet where you may discard your Vishkarian uniforms. I will give further instructions then.” 

“Roger,” Jack said. “Any guards we should be looking out for?” 

“Very little,” Satya said as she flicked through several tabs. “This facility is on Vishkar itself, and they will not expect a sabotage, especially now. If you do, there should be plenty of cover behind equipment in the hallway, or you may subdue them through any means.” 

“Sweet,” Hana said excitedly. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Hiding first, subdue if the hiding doesn’t work out for you,” he reminded. 

“I know, old man. I’ll just have to kick ass on our way out of here,” Hana sighed. 

“That’s the spirit, Hana,” Reinhardt chuckled. “In the meantime, I advise you to listen to Satya. Have you reached the closet?”

“Yes!” Hana sang. “Changing out of these itchy as hell uniforms right now.” 

“Ready to move,” Jack breathed a few moments later. 

“Excellent. This is where you two will split up. Jack, I will hand you off to Reinhardt and Gabriel. Hana, you will stay with me.” With that, Satya switched onto a private channel with Hana and began to rattle a list of instructions to her.

“Alright Jack, you ready?” Gabriel murmured. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jack muttered.

Gabriel snickered. “Far enough. You’re going to want to put on your ventilation mask and hop into the ventilation shaft. They’re pretty roomy, so you should be able to get to the main chemical manufacturing rooms pretty easily.” 

“Copy that.” Jack’s voice was slightly muffled by the mask as he grunted and pulled himself up. “Alright, about ten meters down the shaft there’s a five-way split, so I’ll need directions.”

“Taking the rightmost path will allow you to work your way from the front of the building to the back,” Reinhardt interjected.

Jack hummed in assent. “Which exit should I take after going right?” 

“The third one,” Gabriel directed. “There should be a support beam next to one of the chemical vats. Put the charges somewhere inconspicuous, so a passing guard wouldn’t be able to see and remove it.”

“Be on the lookout for anyone lingering,” Reinhardt warned. 

The line was quiet for a moment as Jack carried out the instructions. A faint whirr sang over the comm as Jack placed and armed it. “Done.”

“Good. Go back to the vent and keep going down until it forces you to make a left.”

There was a brief clanging noise before Jack panted out, “Back in the vent. Turn looks to be around fifty meters from where I am.” 

“Same drill, just go straight ahead and take the sixth exit and place a charge on the gas pipe that’s right next to the vent exit.” 

Gabriel held his breath as the thumping of Jack’s body resonated on the metal surface of the vents. What if there were motion sensors in the vent system? What if there was a silent alarm Satya didn’t know about? What if they found out Jack was in there and try to smoke him out?

Reinhardt placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Relax, my friend.” 

Gabriel nodded and expelled the air from his lungs noisily after he heard another tell tale whirr of Jack placing and arming another charge. “Second charge placed.”

“Good, seven more charges to go.” Gabriel glanced at the countdown projected onto the table, feeling the anxiety twist inside him. “You have more than enough time to finish this. Backtrack until you can make a left, which will take you to the other end of the secondary synthesis room.”

“Roger. And then?” 

“Take the…” Gabriel trailed off as he counted the number of exit points on the map. “Fifth exit. There’s a column a couple of meters ahead of a distillation apparatus that’s bearing a lot of weight, so place the charge there.” 

“Backtracking… Making a left…” Jack grunted. “Why couldn’t we have Hana do the crawling through the vents part again? She’s tiny and also younger than me.”

“Hey, I heard that!” Hana hollered from Satya’s miniature workstation she’s created for herself. 

“Focus, Hana,” Gabriel called. He turned back to his own screen. “Hana is more experienced in technology, so we need her to do that so she can bypass security and grab whatever info we need within the timeframe.” 

“I hate when you’re right,” Jack muttered. Another whirr. “Charge placed.”

“Go back up and you should find a split in the shaft. Take it to the main chemical synthesis room.” 

Jack breathed heavily over the comm. “Now?”

“Seventh exit, chemical hood vent. Satya said there’s a ton of volatile flammable gas which will take out a pretty decent chunk of the room out.” 

“Be careful, a guard may be on your way, Jack,” Reinhardt warned. Sure enough, they could hear the sharp echo of footsteps grow louder through the comms. 

“Shit,” Jack hissed. Gabriel heard the smooth scrape of Jack’s clothes against the metal surface. Gabriel held his breath until Jack breathed out a sigh of relief. “Clear, I think. Double check for me, Reinhardt?”

“Indeed you are,” Reinhardt said, sounding relieved. “I’d still try to complete this as soon as possible, though.”

Jack hummed in agreement and breathed a sigh as the charge came to life. “Next?” 

“Back up the same way you came out, take the third left and then the first left you come across in the vent.” Anxiety thrummed through Gabriel, hoping Jack wouldn’t run into anyone that wasn’t Hana. Reinhardt absently placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. 

“He trusts you to keep him safe,” Reinhardt murmured. Gabriel felt a rush of gratitude and a new wave of anxiety wash over him as he gave Reinhardt a tight-lipped smile. 

“Alright, where does this go?” Jack breathed.

Gabriel swiped through Satya’s notes. “Support column.”

“Done. Back up the ventilation shaft?”

“Nope, you’ll be on the ground for a bit. Ventilation systems from the manufacturing rooms don’t connect with the offices and research wing.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Jack grumbled. “I’m guessing that I’m taking the exit right next to where I’m at?”

“Affirmative. If you’re quick, the only person you should run into is Hana.” 

Jack grunted in assent, panting slightly as he presumably ran down the hallway. “Alright, I’m at the entrance of the research offices. Any code I need to get in?”

“The door should be left open by Hana for your convenience,” Reinhardt said. 

“Roger. Charge location?” 

“Head to the back left corner of the building. It’s where they’re keeping all the servers and comm stuff, so you can put it anywhere in the room,” Gabriel said. 

A few moments passed. Then, Jack cleared his throat, sounding slightly winded. “Next?” 

“Come back out the way you came. The research labs entrance should be on your right. After you place the charge, you’ll be able to travel through the ventilation systems again.”

“Excellent,” Jack deadpanned. Gabriel fought back a giggle. “Charges on the hood’s ventilation system?” 

“Correct,” Gabriel said. “Two more after this and you’re done.” 

“Done and done. Where’s the ventilation shaft?” 

“Middle of the room, you can’t miss it,” Reinhardt said, squinting at the map. Gabriel could hear Jack grumbled in irritation as he hoisted himself up back into the vents. “Take the way that doesn’t lead to a dead end and exit when you see a different room.” 

Jack’s body thudded lightly against the ventilation shaft. “Where do you want it, same as last time?” 

“Mhm,” Gabriel hummed. After a few minutes, he could hear the whine of the charge and Jack’s grunt of satisfaction. “Last one, Jack, let’s get this done. Back up the vents in the same direction, take the fifth right and the first exit point.”

“Thank god,” Jack muttered. “I always hated infiltration and covert op training.” This time, Gabriel didn’t even bother hiding his laugh. “Asshole.” 

“Just one more, and then you can fly away with a giant fireball of an explosion behind you,” Gabriel coaxed. “Place and arm the charges for the defense systems room and then wait for Hana in the hangar.”

“Actually,” Satya said smugly, “Hana and I have already completed our task.” Hana said something to Satya, who nodded, looking thoughtful. “If you three can switch to the main voice system, Hana and I can provide extra assistance.” 

“How are you finished already?!” Jack cried the second they switched to the primary voice system.

“I’m quick, like a rabbit or something,” Hana bragged. “Need me to wait for you outside the defense system room?”

“I’ll be fine,” Jack mumbled. “What’s the status of the finished chemical agents being loaded onto the cargo ships?” 

“Hold on, lemme check,” Hana panted as she sprinted to the hangars. “Looks like all cargo ships are halfway filled.”

“Perfect,” Satya said. “That, along with research notes and programs that you’ve obtained for me, should be more than enough for me to perform my research.” 

“Hell yeah,” Hana cheered. “Jack, what’s your ETA?” 

“Done,” he panted. “On my way to the hangar. We need to make our escape quick.” 

“Roger that, on my way to the cargo ship.” 

Gabriel traded an anxious look with Satya and Reinhardt. They were about to do this. They were about to get back safe, with the answers they desperately needed and a way to put an end to this.

“Ready for takeoff,” Jack gasped. “Detonating the charges in T-minus fifteen seconds.”

“Closing the cargo door and ready to get the hell out of this humid hellhole,” Hana yelled. Gabriel could feel Hana’s excitement as she whooped and guided the cargo ship into the upper atmosphere, the sounds of the plant blowing up into a pile of fire and waste echoing through the voice systems. “That was even more fun than the last time we blew something up on Vishkar.”

“I am glad you’ve found this arrangement enjoyable,” Satya said, sounding slightly confused. “Although I am not sure how this constitutes as ‘fun’ to you.” 

Hana snorted. “I went to military school. Any day involving demolition was a good day.” 

“Not for me,” Jack muttered. 

“That’s because we are also obliged to take care of the aftermath, Jack,” Reinhardt reasoned. “Although I will not deny that I do feel some excitement to see some well-earned destruction.” 

“Pyromaniacs, both of you,” Jack groaned. Hana unrepentantly laughed.

“We’ll be back in a couple of hours, give or take. We’ll ring you if we need anything,” she said lazily. 

Gabriel nodded, even though he knew she and Jack couldn’t see it. “Come back safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'msorryi'msorryi'msorryi'msorry
> 
> did i mention i'm sorry
> 
> so, uh, fun personal fact, i've been sick with the flu for the past couple of days which means my time is split between complaining about being sick and sleeping. didn't realize yesterday was an update day until about 2300, so, uh... oops. 
> 
> fun fact: i have a terrible memory, which means i had to draw a map of what the plant would look like so it would be consistent throughout the chapter.
> 
> next chapter: >:)
> 
> main: prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com  
> writing: asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com


	9. Judgements for the Future

Hana and Jack’s flight back was uneventful at best, and downright boring at worst. As they disembarked from the cargo ship with neatly labeled canisters of chemicals in tow, Hana swayed unsteadily on her feet, exhausted from flying for several hours.

“Get some rest, Hana,” Gabriel said sternly. 

“Okay, _dad,_ ” Hana yawned, trudging towards the sleeping quarters. “Let me know if Satya finds out anything cool.”

“Sure thing, Officer,” Gabriel said, tousling her hair affectionately. Hana grumbled but was evidently too tired to bat his hand away, waving lazily as she retreated to her quarters.

Jack appeared at his side and nudged him gently. “Satya’s going to run through some experiments with Reinhardt right now, if you’d like to watch.” 

“Experiments with Reinhardt?” Gabriel asked, confused. Jack laughed, looking like he was caught off guard. 

“No, not at all, um.” Jack paused to compose himself. “Satya wants to do some science stuff to determine the concentration of the stuff we snagged from Vishkar while running some computer simulations based on the data we and Hana got. Reinhardt volunteered to be her lab assistant to streamline the whole process. Something about ‘making himself useful.’”

“Yeah, that sounds like him,” Gabriel snorted. “I’m not going to lie, I’d kill to see him handle delicate scientific instruments with his giant hands.” 

“Well, thankfully, you won’t have to kill anything,” Jack chuckled. He looped his arm around Gabriel’s and tugged him towards the kitchens. “You can just go with me and watch my brother try to finesse whatever Satya’s going to make him do.”

“He never was good at following instructions or self preservation,” Gabriel remarked, fighting down the horrible flush that he decided was definitely Jack’s fault. “Well. Unless it came from Ana or Fareeha.” 

Jack shrugged and looked pensive. “That kind of love changed him, I think. There’s something about having someone to come home to which he didn’t realize until Dad died. Not that he doesn’t love me,” he added hastily. “We grew up in the battlefield together, and we understood the risks that came with it.”

Gabriel hummed, stopping at the edge of the kitchen, where Satya was in the process of setting up a makeshift practical laboratory while several computers ran in the background. He frowned. “There’s no way in hell that this is safe. We _eat_ here.” 

“If you have any alternatives, I’d be happy to accept them,” Satya said drily, adjusting her makeshift safety glasses. “Otherwise, we must make do with what we have.”

“Seems like you’re going to do fine, though.”

Satya smirked. “Vishkar wouldn’t have granted me the position of director if I was unable to be creative with my resources.”

“Yeah, I’m glad she’s on our side. Kind of,” Jack muttered. He looked slightly anxious, like anything would explode at any moment. 

“Your faith in me is inspiring,” she deadpanned. Satya clasped her hands together, almost looking excited to find out if her government was tampering with her research behind her back. “Reinhardt?”

“Ready when you are, Satya,” Reinhardt called. 

“Excellent. Jack and Gabriel, if you could please step back to give us both some space, we will begin.” 

Gabriel was quiet for a moment, fascinated with the way Satya and Reinhardt moved seamlessly together before something struck him. “What made you realize it?”

Jack was quiet for a moment. “Realize what?”

“You know what I mean,” Gabriel snapped with no real heat behind it. Jack was silent, much to Gabriel’s frustration. “How a certain kind of love could change you.” 

“Intuition, I guess.” 

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

“Well, if you already know the reason, why’re you asking me?” Jack voice sounded pained. 

Gabriel shrugged. “I want to hear you say it. I know Reinhardt and Hana want you to as well. And I’m pretty sure if Satya knew about this whole…” He waved his hand around. “... _thing_ , she’d want you to say it too.” 

“Please leave me out of your interpersonal problems,” Satya called, unamused. Jack covered his bright red face with the palm of his hand, although it looked like he was also suppressing a laugh. 

“I’m never drinking around anyone ever again,” Jack muttered under his breath. He sighed, defeat written all over his face. “Fine. I get why Reinhardt doesn’t go around and try to pull some batshit crazy military stunt in the front line anymore because I felt that way before. About you.” 

It was old news, but his confession still hit Gabriel like a sack of bricks. Gabriel gave him a small half smile. “See, now was that so hard?”

Jack glared at him. “Yes. I’m going to kill Reinhardt for not telling me that I ran my mouth the other night. And for not stopping me.”

“Hana thinks this conversation is twenty or so years overdue.” 

“And you?” 

“I suggested that we completely forget about it and never talk about feelings ever again.” 

Jack laughed. “Honestly, that’s part of the reason why I love you.” 

Gabriel flinched. “You really feel that way, don’t you?” 

“Yes. I wasn’t lying last night.” Jack’s voice was final. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but now that it’s out, well. No use to regret anything now. I’m only sorry that I’ve made you uncomfortable.” 

“Uncomfortable is a strong word,” Gabriel said after a moment of silence. “I don’t think I’m used to getting what I want.”

“Want?” He could hear the glimmer of hope of Jack’s voice.

“If you’re being open and honest, it’s only fair that I extend the courtesy to you,” Gabriel sighed. “I can’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but your feelings aren’t unrequited.” 

Jack looked stunned before laughing, the slight edge of hysteria marring it. “Now I know what you mean when you say you aren’t used to getting what you want.” 

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” 

“Completely,” Jack agreed. He crossed his arms and tapped at his elbow, suddenly looking pensive. “When?”

“When I admitted to myself that I’m… well. You know. When we broke into the Vishkarian Embassy and you asked me why I didn’t want to get married.”

Jack inhaled sharply. “I’m still sorry for that. But what I meant was when did you realize you were… you know.” 

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m still having a rough time accepting that you have any positive feelings for me,” Gabriel said drily. “But to answer your question, I realized it when you abandoned me when we got boarded.” 

“Biggest mistake of my life.” Jack smiled sadly. “I used to replay that in my mind over and over again. Hell, I still do. Always wondered what would happen if I actually succeeded.” 

“Your fantasy scenario would probably not be too far off from what might have happened,” Gabriel admitted. “I had the biggest crush on you since we first met.” 

“Seriously?!” Jack said incredulously. He groaned. “We could’ve been doing this _thing_ for so long if we got our head out of our asses and talked about our feelings for once.” 

“We’re pretty shit at this, aren’t we?” Gabriel laughed self deprecatingly. Jack nodded. Gabriel nudged him. “Hey, you never told me when. Tit for tat, dude.” 

“Fair enough.” Jack thought about it for a moment. “I’m pretty sure I’ve had a crush on you since we first met. I think I’ve been in love with you since you went through your edgelord phase.” 

“Oh god, are you serious?” Gabriel groaned. “I swear that Jesse raided the Royal Archives just so they could hold it over me whenever I try to embarrass him in front of his boyfriend.”

Jack laughed. “When we got older and you moved on from exclusively wearing black and red, I realized it was love. If I could fall in love with you during your questionable aesthetic days --” 

“That aesthetic isn’t even questionable, it’s just _bad_ ,” Gabriel interrupted. Jack snorted.

“-- I could definitely love you through anything, I think. And so far, my theory’s still airtight.” 

Gabriel was stunned. “Damn, you weren’t joking around.” 

Jack’s smile was tired, but a shadow of twenty-something year old Jack shone through. “Yeah, I wasn’t.” His smile faltered. “So, Gabe. Where does that leave us?”

“Fuck if I know,” Gabriel sighed. “To be completely honest, my feelings have taken a backseat to everything else that’s happening.”

“That’s fair,” Jack admitted. “Hell, I don’t even know what to do either. But...”

“But?”

Jack hesitated. “I was talking to Reinhardt, during the flight to Vishkar. I told him what you said, and he seemed… confident.” 

“He’s a confident man. You have to be when you’re the leader of a planet,” Gabriel said with a shrug.

“Reinhardt told me to make things easier for myself. And you. And maybe it’s the thirty-odd year crush talking, but wouldn’t it feel _right_ to just -- fuck, I don’t know -- just pick up where we left off but be upfront with our feelings for each other and --” Jack raked a hand through his hair. 

Gabriel smiled sadly. “It’s been twenty years, Jack. I don’t think we can go back to the things used to be. Even if I don’t get married, I’m still responsible for a million and one things, including running a fucking _planet_ , and it’s not like you’re in a position to drop everything to pursue a whirlwind romance with another monarch with strong political ties to your own planet.” 

“What’s your point?”

“Everything could go wrong,” Gabriel cried. “What if we find out we’re not compatible? Or that we really do hate each other? We’ll be putting our planets’ alliance on the goddamn line because we can’t keep our issues to ourselves or out of each other’s pants, and everything could be ruined based on a single goddamn whim!”

Jack’s face was defeated. “So, you don’t want to do anything about… this. Even though there’s definitely something between us.” 

Gabriel frowned. “I didn’t say _that_. I’m just being realistic on the consequences if this falls apart.”

“It sure as hell didn’t sound like that,” Jack muttered under his breath. “But think about what would happen if we didn’t at least try, Gabe. Yeah, we’ll be on better terms after this thing blows over, but what about everything else? We’re just going to pretend that we’re nothing more than colleagues, friends at best?” Jack stepped into Gabriel’s space, his eyes burning with desperation and something more. “Tell me. Tell me how the last twenty years have been for you.” Jack’s eyes burned insistently against him. 

“Hell.” Gabriel looked everywhere that wasn’t Jack, because he couldn’t bear to look at him, saying this. “Every time your brother and I would meet to talk politics, I’d sleep terribly the night before because I was so scared and excited about the prospect of seeing you again. When I did see you, it would take every inch of self control to run over and scream until I couldn’t speak so you’d know how much it hurt to not be apart of your life anymore. And when I didn’t see you, I’d always have to lock myself in a room so I could cry my eyes out from disappointment because I wanted to see you, but I’d know that you weren’t there because you couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me.” 

Jack’s smile was hollow. “And I’ve been told that last night I informed you of how I’d feel under the same circumstances.” 

“You’ve made yourself very clear,” Gabriel said drily.

“So you know where I’m coming from when I say we’d be stupid not to try.” 

“I don’t know, Jack. There’s so much on the line, and we’ve wanted this for so long, and…” Gabriel sighed.

“And?”

“I don’t want to ruin this by rushing in, Jack. You deserve better than this.” 

Jack snorted. “We just admitted we are in love with each other a few minutes ago, so I’m not sure how much faster we can’t rush this.” 

“Fair enough,” Gabriel acquiesced.

“But we’re older, and I’d like to think we’re better at communication than we were twenty years ago. And if it didn’t work out…” Jack sighed. “I’d be devastated, probably, but at least I’d know we gave it a fair shot.”

Gabriel hummed. “You _do_ seem less petty nowadays…” 

“Shut up.” Jack playfully pushed Gabriel away before his face turned serious again. “So, returning to my original question that I derailed, what now?” 

Gabriel considered his options for a moment. “We could wait until this whole thing is over. I’m guessing that after we save the system from a hostile government takeover our anxiety levels will lower a little and we’ll be able to think straight.” 

“I’ve never been able to think straight my entire life,” Jack joked. Gabriel groaned. “But in all seriousness, I think that’s a far proposition. So… we put this off until the fate of the system’s freedom isn’t up in the air. Deal?”

“Deal,” Gabriel agreed. An awkward silence stretched between them. “So, um…”

“We have completed our testing procedures,” Satya announced, her face grim. “I am sure you are pleased to learn that Vishkar’s Research and Development Department _has_ been tampering and adjusting my formulas.”

“I’m so sorry, Satya.” The condolences felt hollow as they came out, but Gabriel still meant it. 

“Please give me a moment,” Satya said with a subtle hitch, her eyes suspiciously shiny. 

The room was quiet, save for the quiet hum of the computers balanced on the kitchen counters. 

“I’ll, ah, go after her to make sure she’s okay,” Gabriel offered. Reinhardt inclined his head in the direction Satya went. Jack’s face was unreadable. 

“Satya?” His voice echoed off the concrete walls, ringing unpleasantly in his ears. “Satya, if you need to talk about this…”

A door to his left open, revealing an angry and teary Satya. “What,” she hissed, her face hostile. 

“I want to check up on you.”

“Well, you have checked up on me. Now please leave.” Satya made a motion to close the door. In an act of desperation, Gabriel wedged his foot between it and the threshold. 

“You said to give you a moment, not space.” It was a dick move, but they honestly couldn’t afford the time to let Satya brood for as long as she wanted, even with Vishkar’s chemical production briefly halted. 

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you attempting to get me to talk by using technicalities?”

“Is it working?” 

Satya grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes, if you consider this as ‘speaking.’”

Gabriel offered a smile as he pushed the door open. “Excellent.” He paused. “I’m not exactly sure how I can help through these kinds of crises.”

She managed to hiccup out a laugh. “Nor I. Although I suppose if you must impose upon me, the least you could do is offer your shoulder and ear.”

“That’s fair.” He sat down on a stray bed and patted the space next to him. “Although if you intend to help us prevent this whole thing from happening, it’s best if you made this quick.”

“Your empathy astounds me,” she said drily as she settled next to him. “Although I suppose you are my only option right now.”

Gabriel bounced his leg, unsure what to say. “Do you… want to talk about it?” He winced. “God. The last time I said that phrase, I caught Jesse and Prince Hanzo screaming at each other. Some disagreement on a military procedure, but it was during that time Emperor Sojiro was in poor health, and I believe that Hanzo was feeling… unsure about his ability to salvage whatever legacy of his was left. I guess it just… boiled over and he exploded on Jesse.

“At the time, it felt like the end of the universe for him, the potential of him being dumped by his boyfriend,” Gabriel said, chuckling sadly. “They’re as strong as ever now, though. And fast forward to one year later, his life is being threatened by a hostile government and he’s taking it like a goddamn champ. I swear, your generation is made up of something tough. When I stopped talking to Jack because of some damn misplaced pride, I was in such a physical and emotional wreck my parents let me stay out of the public eye for half a goddamn year.”

Satya fidgeted with a stray stylus that had been tucked behind her ear. “I’m unsure what wisdom you’re trying to impart on me.”

“Oh god, if you could’ve drawn some sort of lesson from _that_ semi-coherent rambling, I would’ve been very impressed,” he snorted. “Nah, I’m just trying to distract you so you can feel something that isn’t negative.”

“I suppose confusion could be seen as an emotion that is not negative,” Satya considered. She made a face. “But whether my emotions are positive, negative, or neutral, it still doesn’t change our situation.”

“I’ll give you that,” Gabriel acquiesced. “Need to vent about anything?”

“Anxiety is not something I experience, usually,” she admitted. “I always had faith in… something. Myself, my colleagues, my government, just —” she flapped her hands nervously. “— _somebody,_ and now I have nothing.”

“You have us,” Gabriel offered. Satya hummed agreeingly. 

“I suppose. However, if we are successful—”

“ _When_ we are successful,” Gabriel interjected indignantly. 

“When we are successful,” she said drily as one corner of her mouth tugged up into a small smile, “I still fear for the future of Vishkar.”

“How so?”

“Sanjay and everyone that consented to these atrocities cannot be allowed to continue leading our country. The people of Vishkar must revolt and raze its current government.” Satya’s voice left no room for argument. “However, I’m uncertain who would be willing to lead us after this.”

“You seem to be a promising candidate,” Gabriel offered. “You have experience in being in a government position, and you clearly have the people’s best interests at heart.”

Satya pressed her lips together. “That _is_ true. Although I argue that being Director of Design is not the same as being apart of Vishkar’s executive branch.”

“You said it yourself, you’re smart and resourceful.” Gabriel shrugged. “Seems like you’re off to a decent start. I’m sure there’ll be a few people that are also willing to step forward.”

“We _do_ have some political prisoners,” she said, uncertain. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Vishkar has managed to brainwash some of the weaker-willed ones. Their leaders, however…”

“Would definitely help us out,” Gabriel finished. “In both the uprising and governing, if they’re willing to.”

Satya grimaced. “Governing is much more difficult than fighting. It won’t be easy, but I can only hope that a new light will shine over Vishkar.”

“See?” Gabriel nudged her. “You’ll work it out. You’re Satya fucking Vaswani, youngest Director of Design and possibly the face of a revolution and new government for an entire planet.”

“I can assure you my middle name is not ‘fucking,’ but I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, thankfully sounding somewhat amused. 

“That’s the spirit,” Gabriel chuckled. “Ready to go out and start an uprising, Satya?”

“I think so.” Satya still looked anxious. “We don’t have much time, but if I recall correctly, Vishkar’s forces should be spread relatively thinly. If we do this right, this will be over with quickly.”

“And if we get it wrong?”

“We may doom my planet into falling into a civil war,” Satya sighed. “Such bloodshed would be a waste of time and potential.” 

“Okay, so we’ll just have to get this done right as soon as we can.”

Satya frowned. “You may be overestimating our allies’ abilities.” 

“They’re political prisoners, right? They have to at least be somewhat organized and good at taking direction.” 

That’s fair,” she muttered. Satya fumbled with the stylus some more. “I suppose now is the time for you to tell me that we must concoct some sort of plan to storm the capital.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Our’s probably wouldn’t be as effective without your expertise.”

There was a soft tapping at the door and Hana stuck her head in. “Oh good, you’re here,” she yawned. “Reinhardt’s calling Ana and Fareeha and Jesse. Jack wants to launch an attack before Vishkar can recover.” She squinted at them suspiciously. “Good talk?”

Gabriel gave Satya a look, which she returned. “I believe so,” she said, giving Hana a small smile. She stood and smoothed her borrowed, unwrinkled clothes. “Is there anything Gabriel and I need to be briefed on?” 

“Nah, not really,” Hana said briskly, leading them down a hallway to the communications room. “Ana’s a little annoyed that she probably can’t come with us to Vishkar, with her being the head commander of the Wirtinian military and all of that. Jesse and Fareeha might fly to join us if the Roganian uprising goes well, since Commander Zaryanova will be at the head of it.”

“Wait, Jesse and Fareeha want to be apart of this?” Gabriel asked incredulously. “No. Absolutely not. It’s completely out of the question.”

“Tell that to him yourself. I’m your personal security officer, not your personal assistant.” Hana threw him an amused but irritated look as she pushed the doors open. 

“Uncle Gabriel, Director Vaswani,” Jesse said warily from the screen. Fareeha brightened and waved next to him. 

“Gabriel, it’s good to see you in one piece. Director Vaswani, my pleasure to make your acquaintance again,” Ana greeted from another screen. Satya fidgeted, looking unsure as to what to do with all the attention centered on her. Gabriel gently placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses. Please, address me as Satya,” she stuttered. “I’m glad to see you well, considering the circumstances.” Ana smiled and gave Satya an encouraging look. Jesse glowered at her. Gabriel shot him a disappointed glare. 

“We should discuss the details of how we wish to free each government from Vishkar’s rule,” Reinhardt cut in. 

“There’s no point in wasting time,” Jack added. “They’re still vulnerable from Hana’s and my, uh, excursion, so now would be a perfect time to hit them and end this.”

Satya nodded, still looking unsure of herself. “Jack is correct. The sooner we all strike, the better.”

Ana nodded and brushed a lock of hair back. “The attack we’ll make on our planets will be easy, given that we outnumber the Vishkarian military. I will do my best to discreetly contact my generals so they may mobilize their troops. Satya?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?” 

“Please, in this setting, just address me as Ana.” She gave Satya a warm, maternal smile. “Do you know what time the Vishkarian military will be at its weakest?”

Satya pressed her lips together. “Six in the evening, I believe. That is when the next shift change occurs. If they follow the schedule given to them, you will have about five minutes to assemble your soldiers and prepare for an attack.”

“Very well. How do you wish for us to subdue them?”

“Ideally, with the least amount of bloodshed.” Satya grimaced. “Realistically, through any means necessary. I suspect that the Vishkarian commanders have told their soldiers the latter, and will not be afraid to do so.”

“Anything we need to look out for?” Ana asked, her face stoic. “New weapons, fighting techniques, anything?”

“Keep your distance,” Satya warned. “Some of the Vishkarian soldiers may be armed with a photon gun that had been put into production recently. The military won’t dare to use something so experimental against their own people, but against foreigners and people they would consider subjects…” Satya trailed off before recomposing herself. “We haven’t found a way to extend its reach, but it will be fatal at close range.”

“Long range, I understand,” Ana said with a dangerous gleam in her eye. Jack groaned.

“Ana, please don’t…”

“Jack, I’ve never stopped practicing, so in all likelihood I won’t miss a shot,” Ana placated. “It’s been so long since my rifle and I have been in battle.” 

“That’s because you’re the head of the military and queen of the goddamn planet,” Jack said, his face not remotely amused. “We don’t put our leaders into battle because they just feel like it.”

“And how is this different than you three storming the very planet that caused this?” Ana raised an eyebrow. “Arguably, I’ll be even safer than you lot.”

Jack threw his hands in the air and turned to his brother. “Reinhardt. You have to stop this.”

“Reinhardt,” Ana said sweetly. “Would you deny your wife and commander a chance to bond with her soldiers while defending their own planet?”

Reinhardt raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Nothing I will do or say will dissuade you, will it?”

“Wow, it’s almost like they’re married since they know each other so well,” Fareeha deadpanned. “Come _on,_ Uncle Jack, it’s not fair for you to get all the fun and not let Mum and I do anything.”

“Just Mum,” Ana corrected. “Fareeha, you are _not_ going to be apart of this.”

“You too, Jesse,” Gabriel added. Fareeha and Jesse sputtered furiously. Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Non negotiable, kiddos. Wirtin and Rogan need their heirs in case something goes south.” 

“I’m an adult, for cryin’ out loud,” Jesse cried. “That’s plenty old enough to participate in a military operation!” Fareeha opened her mouth to agree but was cut off by Satya. 

“Enough of this,” she snapped. “Every second we use arguing, the harder it will be to expel Vishkar from your planets. We must use every moment we have.”

“Whatever,” Jesse grumbled. He cleared his throat. “So, same goes for Rogan for the military stuff?”

“Correct,” Satya said briskly. “Tell your head commander that you will begin your attack at around six in the evening and to keep their distance, unless they can provide some sort of cover. If everyone, including the rest of the planets under Vishkar’s rule, successfully strikes at once, victory will be assured.”

“I do like the sound of that,” Jesse mused lazily. “We’ll pass it on to Commander Zaryanova and the other commanders on the other planets after we finish this thing, if that’s alright with you, uncle.” Gabriel nodded. 

“Now, we decide the fate of Vishkar,” Reinhardt said, his face somber. 

“Gabriel and I have discussed the possibility of starting a civil war,” Satya said hesitantly. “The Vishkarian government has many enemies within our own planet. And I am aware there may be some discontent within the general populace.”

“With the right motivation, we can have them do the dirty work for us,” Hana pointed out. “Taking out the bulk of the military, or at the very least keep them busy, would be a huge help to us if we’re going to storm the capital.”

Satya nodded. “If we develop a way to distribute the correspondences detailing on how Vishkar has done to its people and instruct them to riot, we may have the odds in our favor.”

“We can work on that. I’m guessing Vishkar has a holo broadcasting station and official correspondence message delivery systems we can get the message out through?”

“Correct.” Satya tugged at her clothing. “We can do this before we leave for Vishkar. While we are en route to Vishkar, I can try to deactivate the security system in the prison sector we keep our political prisoners in.”

“Sounds like a solid plan, except for the part where you don’t do shit to your Vishkarian buddies,” Jesse said irritatedly. “What’re you going to do, discourse with them until they side with you?”

“Jesse,” Gabriel chastised. 

“What? It’s a legitimate question!” Jesse cried. “Well, _Satya?_ ” 

“I intend to capture them and have them pay for their crimes against the Vishkarian people,” Satya said coldly. “The details are unimportant to you.” 

“That’s real promising,” he muttered. Satya sneered. 

“Then I’m afraid I will be unable to give you a ‘promising’ answer, Your Royal Highness.”

“Can it, you two,” Gabriel chastised. “Jesse, have a little faith in Satya. If we can all trust her, then so can you. Satya, I’m afraid you’ll need to be more specific with what you intend to do with Vishkar government officials.”

“At the bare minimum, they must be imprisoned to ensure they will not harm the people of the system any longer. Depending on the rank they currently hold, death may be the only fitting punishment for their crimes.” Her face was stony. Hana bit her lip, looking concerned. 

“Are you suggesting we kill the president?” Hana asked, her voice skeptical. 

“You all will do no such thing. This is a Vishkar manner.” 

“Hana has a point, Director,” Jesse snapped. “Whatever you choose to do will reflect on all of us. If _you_ decide to assassinate President Korpal, it’ll look like _we’re_ in on it too.”

“President Sanjay Korpal has committed war crimes against the Vishkarian people and if he allowed to exist further, may quite possibly commit the same crimes against every intelligence life form in the galaxy. He. Cannot. Be. Allowed. To. Live.” 

“Guess that’s one way to start a new government,” Fareeha muttered. “Killing off almost everyone from the old government and having a bunch of their political enemies run the place.”

“I will not take criticism from someone so young and with such a low amount of government experience,” Satya snapped. Fareeha opened her mouth angrily. 

“Please remember, everyone, that the longer we argue, the more time Vishkar has time to regroup,” Reinhardt warned. 

“Very well. We’ll resolve this issue when we arrive on Vishkar,” Satya snipped. 

Gabriel rubbed a hand across his face. “Fine. In the meantime, we need to prepare. Like it or not, we’re going into war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, this fic is almost done! 
> 
> i've been reading the fic through a few times and i've made some small edits for clarity + other stuff. also, i've been reading through the epilogue and i'm not terribly pleased with how it came out. it resolves one plotline out of the maybe three that are left so i'm going to try and revisit it before friday so i can do the double update that i intended to do. 
> 
> also i want everyone to know that hana was the most fun to write.
> 
> main: prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com  
> writing: asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com


	10. Vishkar Burning

Satya looked uncharacteristically nervous as she sat in front of the holo camera, looking strangely out of place among the rest of them, carrying boxes of guns and charges while discussing different war tactics. It made sense, Gabriel thought, that some government official who crafted legislature and did science research on the side would look out of place in a proverbial war zone among trained soldiers. 

Gabriel put a hand on Satya’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “Whenever you’re ready, Satya. You can do it.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, fidgeting with a stray strand of hair. Satya straightened, pasting a determined expression on her face as she switched the camera on to record. “Greetings, people of Vishkar. I am former Director of Design Satya Vaswani.

“For my entire life, the government of Vishkar has told us the same thing: order from chaos. Conform, and you will want for nothing. Obey, and we will lead each other into a bright future for a better universe. While some have suspected our government, others have fallen in line out of desperation. I am here to confirm that these are all lies.

“While Vishkar was founded with a vision of a utopia, the execution of what our ancestors have envisioned for us has fallen short. They envisioned a planet where its people could live, unhindered by the faults and vices of humanity, and create a planet that would push the limits of art, literature, sciences. Instead, its government turned into what they had feared: a prison for its inhabitants, restrained by the greed of its leaders, who hide their greed and lust for power behind their flimsy promises of grandeur for all.

“I believed in those lies. I believed them as a child living in the slums, who dreamt of helping them achieve the true potential of the Vishkarian people. I believed them as a student in the Vishkarian Government Academy, who studied for hours just for a chance to shape just one thing beautiful from the crude. I believed them when they granted me the position of Director of Design, determined to create a legacy so great it would expand to every system in the universe. And I -- no, _we_ \-- have been robbed from this glorious vision Vishkar has dangled in front of us and have given us a poor facsimile.

“Enclosed in this file are correspondences between government officials, deriding the Vishkarian people and what they have hoped for. Plans to enslave their own people, if they have not already. Evidence of humanitarian crimes such as withholding food, water, shelter, medical assistance, to coerce compliance from local governments, businesses, cities. All executed quickly and quietly. Plans to extend this fate to the rest of the system, and eventually, the rest of the universe. We cannot allow this to happen.

“Already, the Vishkarian government has latched on to other planets with the intent of withering it dry for their own glory. It must be our job to remove the roots that have rotted into the ground. We cannot let ourselves to be complacent and allow this to happen.

“To the Vishkarian people who have known this: no words can express my shame that I have not listened to the people I swore to serve. I cannot change the past, but I will strive to better the future in any way I can. You have my full support. To the rest of the Vishkarian people who have lived in ignorance: we can no longer remain complicit in these atrocities. I have also included significant strongholds, bases, and supply storages that are vulnerable to attack and significant to the Vishkarian military’s power.

“Please, if you value the freedom of the system, the universe, now is the time to take a stand against the ones that have chained us. It is time to stand up and take the future into our hands. The revolution begins now.” Satya clenched her jaw before switching the holo camera off, giving out a deep breath.

Hana paused and whistled appreciatively. “Damn, what a good speech. I feel like I can take an entire army now.” 

“Aaaaand the moment is gone,” Gabriel muttered. “It’s a good thing she switched the camera off before you said that.” 

“I’m just telling it like it is.” Hana shrugged. “Anyways, I’m ready for President Satya Vaswani any day now.” Jack rolled his eyes as he passed by them, carrying a box full of pulse ammunition. 

“Gotta actually stage and execute the coup before we can install a new leader,” he called. Hana rolled her eyes.

“Believe it or not, Jackass, I actually remember how government upheavals work,” she yelled back. “Just. Consider President of Badassery and Vishkar Satya Vaswani and let it be your motivation as we prepare and do this whole thing.” 

“I have considered it, and I quite like the idea of it,” Reinhardt commented, giving Satya a gentle nudge and mischievous wink. “Satya would make a fine leader, if I do say so myself.”

“I disagree,” Satya said haughtily, blushing a little under Hana and Reinhardt’s praise. “We have insufficient evidence to come to such a conclusion. Moreover, it is unlikely that the people of Vishkar would allow their former enemy to become their leader, whether I kill the current one or not.” 

“We shall worry about the details later, my friend,” Reinhardt assured her. “In the meantime, we must focus for battle!” His face melted with nostalgia. “Ah, it has been awhile since I’ve been allowed to do something like this. Hopefully there is still fight in me.” 

“I’m pretty sure that you’ll always have fight in you, Reinhardt,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “Dad always did say you’d fight your own grave if you could.” Hana snorted with laughter. 

“God, what a great mental image,” she choked out, wiping imaginary tears away. She grabbed Gabriel’s arm, her eyes blazing. “Gabriel. If at any point I have given up on life, or you see me on my deathbed, remind me of what Jack just said so I can remember a moment of joy. Please, do this for me.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, somewhat alarmed but also amused. “Uh. Sure? There’s no need to be this dramatic about it.”

Hana pouted. “Satya just sent a message out to everyone on her planet to incite a civil war, and we’re on our way to stage a coup, and yet _I’m_ the one who’s being dramatic?” 

“I mean, when you put it that way, I sound ridiculous,” he said as he hefted the last crate of pulse rifles onto the cargo ship. Gabriel sighed and looked around the empty forest ground. “That’s the last of the stuff we want to take, right?”

“Yup,” Hana replied, popping the “p.” “We’re all set to kick some ass and storm the castle. I’m excited. Is anyone else besides me and Reinhardt excited?” 

“Why would I be excited?” Satya asked confusedly. “I’m about to overthrow the government I have lived under for over a quarter of a century. Depending on what we decide, I may have to execute my former superior. Nothing about this is exciting.” 

“Killjoy,” Hana muttered. “C’mon, don’t tell me you haven’t had at least one fantasy where you walk into a room full of your enemies and then handed their asses to them.”

“...No.”

“How are you real?!” Hana cried. “What kind of shitty life have you been living?! Wait, don’t answer that.” 

Despite the circumstances, Satya managed to giggle a little, much to Gabriel’s surprise. “Alright everyone, if we’re all loaded up, we need to take off now,” he instructed. 

“Gotcha,” Hana said with a lazy salute, wandering off to the pilot’s cockpit, presumably to prepare for takeoff. “We’ll be ready to go airborne in a minute or two.” 

Jack approached Gabriel hesitantly. “You ready to do this?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Not really. Don’t have much of a choice in the matter, though, so I can deal with it.”

“We’ll see this through. I promise.” Jack’s face lit up as he gave Gabriel a small smile, momentarily taking Gabriel’s breath away. “Jesse and Fareeha will be okay. This will be over before you know it.”

“Thanks,” Gabriel murmured. “I needed that.”

Jack laughed and placed a hand on Gabriel’s back, guiding him towards the ship. “I’m not going to lie, I do have a personal investment in seeing this through as well.”

“We’re on our way to end a centuries old government regime and all you can think about is the possibility of you finally getting laid,” Gabriel groaned. “How the hell are you in charge of everything?” 

“Extremely fortunate circumstances that have given me a world class education and training as well as a ton of opportunities because of my parentage,” Jack replied with a cheeky grin. 

“Didn’t mean it literally,” Gabriel snorted as he ducked into the cockpit, “but a decent explanation, regardless.” Jack winked at him and Gabriel closed the door, his face flushed. 

“Awww, is he your _boyfriend_ now?” Hana singsonged as she prodded at the ship’s controls. 

“A, no, and B, mind your own goddamn business,” he grumbled. Hana rolled her eyes affectionately.

“Everyone on board?” she yelled towards the main passenger section of the ship. 

“Jack, Satya, and myself are accounted for,” Reinhardt called.

“Good, because we’re leaving right now!” Hana cackled as she pulled the ship up into the atmosphere. She turned to Gabriel. “Anyways, it’s really hard for me to mind my ‘own goddamn business’ considering it’s my job to basically be your protective shadow, so no, I won’t.” 

Gabriel slouched into the seat, wondering if it would be worth it if he got himself “accidentally” injured so he wouldn’t have to endure the constant hell of Hana’s teasing and confronting his feelings. Hana nudged him gently, concern lacing her face. 

“Hey,” she said quietly. “One thing at a time, alright? And no more running.” He gave her a weak smile. 

“No more running,” he agreed. 

“You wanna talk about it or nah?” 

Gabriel thought about it for a moment. “Nah, I think. I’m still thinking over it, but I’m leaning towards a tentative verdict.” 

“Am I allowed to ask what that verdict is?” 

“God, no. If I say anything I think I’ll lose my nerves and second guess myself.” 

Hana laughed. “That’s fair. Have you considered what we’re going to do for the coup?” 

“Depends,” he sighed. “If the rebels do what we want them to do and manage to thin the army out, we can probably go on an all-out offense.”

“And a stealth approach if they don’t?” 

“Yeah, pretty much. We can’t do anything fancy with our team composition and the time we’ve been given. Or without external support.”

“Sweet. I hope the rebels will help us out.” 

“You and me both, Hana.” 

“Mostly because an all-out offense is way more fun.” 

Gabriel laughed. “Not sure what else I expected from you.”

“Me neither,” Hana admitted as the ship went into space. “So. Time for team meeting?” 

“Only if you think you we’ll be okay with this thing on autopilot for however long it takes.” 

“They’ll be fine,” she said, giving an affectionate pat to the dashboard. 

“If you say so,” Gabriel sighed, heaving himself up from his seat and pushing the door open. 

“Excellent, we may continue our planning for our upcoming mission,” Satya said. “Vishkar has been in disarray since I have issued my call to action. As a result, I still have access to all private information made available to me and I’m pleased to report that the military has been spread thin.”

“Yes,” Hana muttered. Satya pressed her lips together, looking like she was fighting back laughter.

“At this rate, we can make quick work of San -- _President Korpal_ and everyone that stands in the way of the Vishkarian people’s livelihood. President Korpal will only be accompanied by a few members of his security team, which will be perfect for us. Security throughout the capitol will also be thin, so we can make quick work of infiltrating the building.

“To try and maintain an element of surprise, we should land in the outskirts of the city. We will remain relatively undetected by the military, provided that we still remain cautious.”

“Do you think we’ll encounter any resistance from the rebels?” Jack asked. 

“It is likely,” Satya admitted. “I will conceal my face as a precaution, but given that I am no longer wearing my Vishkar uniform, we shouldn’t have an issue getting through the city. However, we should not be overly concerned with that.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“The buildings and alleyways will provide ample cover, if needed. And if we absolutely must…” Satya chewed her bottom lip. “Vishkar has a network of tunnels that we can use. We do risk of confronting other members of the Vishkar government, but this will depend on the severity of the situation. 

“When we reach the capitol, we will enter through the western side entrance. It is the entrance closest to the security bunker, as time is of the essence.” 

“Good.” Gabriel nodded. “The other government officials?” 

“Without Sanjay, Vishkar will fall,” Satya said confidently. “Sanjay has made them submit to his power completely and they cannot function without his guidance. Or mine, for that matter.” 

“Right, so we cut off the head. Speaking of which.”

“Nice segue. Very subtle,” Hana snorted. “So, are we killing this guy or what?” 

“It appears that I have been outnumbered,” Satya said, her expression just a little too smooth. “If that is the will of the party, that is what we will carry out.” 

Reinhardt thumped Satya on the back and gave her an encouraging smile. “I’m glad you have seen our side.” 

“Yes. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment,” she murmured, getting up to leave the room.

“None of us believe her, yes?” Reinhardt said immediately after she left the room.

“Yeah, she’s a terrible liar. It’s great when we’re interrogating her, but when she’s actually on our side, it’s kind of annoying,” Hana remarked. 

“Any plans on preventing her from assassinating the president?” Jack asked, his face exhausted. 

“Do you think that keeping an eye on her during the battle would prevent this from happening?” Reinhardt suggested. 

“Maybe. Fuck, I don’t know,” Gabriel said tiredly. “We also run the risk of having the rebels killing him. Or having Satya assassinate him when we’re out of the picture.” 

“So, it’s decided.” Hana clasped her hands together. “We plan to do fuck all and if Korpal dies by Satya’s hand we’ll just accept it and go on our merry way.” 

“You didn’t have to put it like that,” Gabriel muttered. Hana laughed.

“Yeah, but I wanted to, so.” She shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Have I ever told you what a valuable member of our team you are?” Gabriel said wryly. 

“Not recently. I always welcome your praise, though,” she said sweetly. “You can also show your appreciation through my salary, too.” 

“We’ll discuss that when the fate of the system isn’t at stake.” Gabriel ignored the snickers of Reinhardt and Jack. “Don’t you have a ship to fly and enemies to watch out for?”

“Ugh, _fine,_ ” Hana groaned as she sank into the pilot’s seat. 

The silence from the five of them permeated the ship as it hummed gently towards Vishkar. It felt like the calm before the storm, with the gentle hum of the ship growing louder and louder as the stars shifted just a little more. Gabriel tapped a finger against his arm, checking the radar every few minutes to make sure they were alone and there was no one tailing them and everything was going to be okay and _oh my god they were really doing this and--_

“Oh my god, hold your breath so you don’t hyperventilate,” Hana said, clearly alarmed. “We can’t have you passing out right before we’re about to stage a coup, get a hold of yourself!”

Gabriel begrudgingly held his breath, willing his heartbeat to slow for just a goddamn minute. If everyone focused on their objective, this will be done as quickly as it had started, and maybe after this was over —

“Hope you’re in somewhat fighting shape, old man, ‘cause we’re about to land.” Hana’s voice was grim as the ship pushed into Vishkar’s atmosphere, giving him a view of the dense forest. The leaves trembled under the quiet _woosh_ or the ship, and it almost looked like the trees shrank as they passed over them. “Starting landing sequence once we find a clearing to land in. Can you get Satya for me?” 

“Yeah,” he muttered, grateful for the distraction. Gabriel clambered to the passenger side of the ship. “Satya. Where is she, Hana needs her.”

“Here. What does Hana require?” Satya said cooly. 

“Landing area, please.” His heart still thumped traitorously in his chest, and his lungs still felt too big for his torso. 

“Very well,” Satya sighed, stalking off to the cockpit. Jack looked up at Gabriel and gave him a concerned look. 

“You okay?” Jack got up and gently cupped Gabriel’s face, Jack’s eyes probing his face. “You look nervous. Are you nervous? You don’t need to be nervous.”

“Jack.” Gabriel gently pried his hands off of him and chuckled. “I’ll be fine.” Jack’s smile was brilliant and tilted his forehead towards Gabriel. Behind him, someone cleared their throat.

“Hey, so, we just landed,” Hana drawled. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

“No,” Gabriel and Jack said simultaneously. Hana coughed and pressed her hand against her mouth.

“Sure,” she said skeptically. “Anyways, we’re sharing the clearing with somebody, so I’m going outside to check it out to make sure it isn’t someone that will kill us.” Gabriel could see her bite down on her cheek. He rolled his eyes.

“Right, so, check it out!” He gestured at the ship’s exit.

“You got it,” she said, giving a lazy salute as she sauntered out of the ship. Jack sighed.

“So, that just happened.” Jack’s voice sounded defeated. 

“Yup.” God, this was awkward. Outside, he could hear Hana shouting something, and fear spiked through him. “Dammit,” he muttered as he jogged towards the noise. It was too early for things to be going south, and if they were going to encounter difficulties this early in the operation, that definitely -- 

“Heeeeeey, Uncle Gabriel,” Jesse said, wearing the most terrified expression Gabriel has ever seen his entire life. 

“Jesse?!” he shrieked. Jesse shrank behind Hana, which would’ve been hilarious in any other situation besides this. “What the hell are you doing here?!” 

Jesse held up a finger and gave Gabriel a too-bright smile. “Before you say anything, the uprising led by Commander Zaryanova really well, she’s really great, you should give her a raise or a commendation or something, she’s absolutely fantastic --”

“Dude, chill,” Hana whispered, elbowing him in the ribs.

“We thought that _maybe_ you’d need some help with the whole --”

“ _We?_ ” Gabriel’s voice climbed dangerously.

“Did I say we? I meant that _I_ thought that --”

Hana rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Just get it over with, man.”

“Hi, Uncle Gabriel,” a voice said cautiously behind the other ship. Fareeha poked her head out, grinning sheepishly. “Surprise?”

“Why are you both here?” Gabriel cried. “I made it _very_ clear that this was going to be done _by us,_ and not a bunch of _kids_ \--”

“I want to point out that I’m twenty-one and an adult by Roganian law,” Jesse interjected, “and Fareeha here is seventeen, which also happens to be the age of majority by Wirtin laws, so technically we aren’t kids.” 

“Not helping your case,” Hana muttered. Jesse sputtered.

“Shut up, Hana, you’re a year younger than me, why do _you_ get to go do cool military stuff--”

“A, I graduated from military academy. B, I’m not the second in line for my planet’s throne. So, I can do fun things.” 

“God, just please be quiet for a minute, my head is killing me,” Gabriel snapped. He pinched the bridge of his nose, fixing a glare at Jesse and Fareeha. At least Fareeha had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.

“Hey, is everything alright out here? I heard some shouting…” Jack trailed off as he stepped into the clearing and fixed his eyes on his niece. “Fareeha?”

“Hello, Uncle Jack,” she said sweetly. “Fancy seeing _you_ here of all places…”

“Fareeha, your parents are going to have a coronary when they find out you’re here --”

“Fareeha, my daughter!” Reinhardt boomed behind them. Out of him, Hana, Gabriel, and Jack, Reinhardt was the only one who looked excited to see them. “Ah, Jesse, you’ve grown since I last saw you! What a pleasant surprise to see you both.” 

Fareeha rushed to give her step-father a hug. “It’s great to see you, too, Dad,” she murmured. “Mum and I have been so worried about you.” 

Reinhardt gave Fareeha an appraising look. “You have been doing okay?”

“Yes!” Her smile was blinding. “I just thought, you know, since you’re so supportive of how I want a military career, that maybe this would be a good introduction to this, so…” She laughed nervously. “Here we are!” 

“It’s too dangerous, even for someone with military training,” Jack cut in. “Jesse, Fareeha, you’re going back into that ship and flying back to Rogan. No questions.” Jesse groaned.

“That’s completely unfair--”

“What is this ruckus going on? I believe we have a coup to stage,” Satya said icily. Her eyes were hard and determined and her jaw was clenched. Jesse took an automatic step back. 

“Greetings, Dir -- ow, Fareeha, my _ribs_ \-- Satya.” Jesse gave a polite smile to her. “We just thought that you guys might need some help on this whole ‘overthrowing the government’ plan you have --”

Satya looked thoughtful for a moment. “I suppose we could use all the help that anyone is willing to offer.”

“You can’t possibly think that it would be practical to send two _kids_ into a warzone --” Satya held a hand to silence Gabriel. 

“Your ages, Prince Jesse and Princess Fareeha.” 

“Twenty-one, ma’am,” Jesse said smoothly, flashing his best smile. Gabriel glared at him.

“Seventeen.” Fareeha raised her chin and straightened her body.

Satya raised an eyebrow. “And I assume you are both considered adults by your planets’ laws.” 

“Correct on both accounts, ma’am,” Jesse said nervously. 

“Then you are adults, and may join us on this operation,” Satya said dismissively. Gabriel and Jack both opened their mouths to argue, only to be cut off as she held up a finger to silence them. “The Vishkarian government vastly outnumbers us. Am I correct to assume Their Royal Highnesses have had military training?” 

“Yes,” Gabriel grumbled through clenched teeth.

“Then while they lack experience, they are old enough and arguably trained to handle situations like these. If they are offering help, we _will_ take whatever help we can acquire.” Satya’s face left no room for any arguments. 

“She _is_ right, you know,” Reinhardt chimed in. Satya raised an eyebrow, looking vindicated.

“Fine,” Gabriel spat out. “But any order you give them needs to be approved by me. Non negotiable.”

“Very well.” Satya shrugged. “Now, we must prepare.” And with that, she turned around and headed towards the ship for supplies. 

“On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you right now?” Jesse asked, cautiously sliding next to Gabriel.

“One hundred.”

“What if I told you I brought your favorite set of battle armor?” 

Goddammit, the kid really knew how to butter him up. Gabriel sighed. “Eleven, if you give it to me in the next five seconds.” 

Jesse thrust a heavy suitcase at his chest, grinning cockily. “Suit up.” Gabriel rolled his eyes and stalked towards the ship. 

“Hey.” Jack pressed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes dancing with mirth. “I’ll grab you some supplies. So you don’t have to rush to get changed.” 

“Not you, too,” Gabriel groaned. Jack laughed and patted him before running off to help Hana unload the supplies. 

God, it felt _good,_ being back in his battle armor. Did it make him look outlandish? Yes. Did he care? Absolutely not. 

Jack’s eyes widened as Gabriel stepped out into the clearing, clad in his custom Roganian armor, feeling like a goddamn prince again and not a fugitive on the run. 

“Oh, wow,” Jack said faintly. Fareeha and Jesse snickered behind him. 

“You gonna twirl for Jac -- I mean, _us_ , Uncle Gabriel?” Jesse choked out in between giggles. 

Gabriel gave his nephew an unimpressed look. “Don’t push it, kid.” Jesse held up his hands in surrender and wandered off to where Hana and Reinhardt were arguing over weapons. 

“Get ‘im, Uncle Jack.” Fareeha gave an affectionate punch to Jack’s shoulder and followed Jesse. Jack sighed.

“I’ll keep my personal thoughts to myself,” Jack muttered as he inserted a clip into the rifle he was holding. Gabriel laughed.

“Thanks. I’m flattered, by the way,” Gabriel murmured shyly. Jack tore his eyes away from Gabriel in favor of inspecting his rifle closely, but Gabriel thought he could see a hint of pink creeping up Jack’s face. “So.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “What did you grab me?” 

Jack shot him a grateful look before pulling out some weapons hidden behind the crate. “Pulse rifle and a bunch of ammo for medium and short range, two shotguns and its ammo since Jesse mentioned you _still_ like to use them --”

“They do a lot of damage when used in short range,” Gabriel interjected.

“Sure.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Anyways, a tactical plasma knife in case you need to get really close to anyone, and that’s it. We’re traveling light.” 

“I can deal with that,” Gabriel said, holstering his weapons onto his person. “Are we almost ready to go?” 

Jack nodded. “Reinhardt and Hana just need to finish prepping. Fareeha and Jesse have been here for about an hour before we landed, so they’ve been ready to go for a while. Satya’s…” Jack waved his hand around. “Probably ready. She’s not much of a fighter, so there’s not a lot we can offer her.” 

“If we are all prepared, we must leave now,” Satya called. Gabriel allowed Jack to lead him to where Satya was waiting at the edge of the clearing, her face anxious. “Stay closely with me. These forests are dense and we cannot risk losing anyone.” 

The trek through the thick forest was arduous, to say the least, with stray roots protruding from the ground and branches hanging at just the right height for them to smack Gabriel in the face. Silence and tension hung thick in the air. The humidity didn’t help, either: while the temperature was perfectly balmy, sweat clung to his neck and joints. A quick glance at the rest of his party members proved that Gabriel wasn’t the only one uncomfortable. Finally, after what felt like hours led them to the space between the forest and the city. Satya hesitated, and Gabriel put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked softly. “We can take a minute, if you’d like.” 

“I…” Her voice was faint and fragile. “I am not sure. It’s…” She shook her head, as if it could dispel the doubt in her eyes. 

“We could take it from here,” Jack offered. Gabriel nodded beside him. They really couldn’t, but they also couldn’t afford to have a member hesitating and second-guessing themselves throughout the entire mission. 

A familiar gleam came back to Satya’s eyes as she wrapped a scarf around her head, concealing it. “No. We must continue. For the sake of your planets, and for mine.” 

“Atta girl,” Hana cheered. Satya gave her a grateful look. 

“We must hurry,” Satya announced decidedly as she took off into the cramped streets of the capital, not bothering to see if anyone was following behind her. 

Walking through the capital was surreal. Glass and sheets of metal littered the usually impeccable streets, and the once-pristine white buildings were marred with scratches, smudges of _something_ , and scorch marks. Gabriel almost ran into a soldier chasing a group of citizens, and a military transport zoomed past them with random people hanging from the windows, celebrating as Vishkarian soldiers chased them in vain. Gabriel shuddered as ammunition peppered the ship, narrowly missing the civilians. 

“This way,” Satya instructed, ducking into an alley. “We require more cover if we do not with to be seen.” 

The alley was in no better shape than the main streets itself. A building flickered with fire, and he instinctively pulled Jesse away from the building.

“Settle down, old man,” he grumbled. “I’m old enough to know not to run into a burning building without a reasonable cause.” 

Gabriel flushed and rolled his eyes. “Just in case. Now’s not the time for heroics.” 

Jesse snorted and nudged Gabriel playfully. “You need to take your own damn advice. Helping a foreign planet’s official take down her own damn government?” 

“Not heroic, just politics.” 

“Sketchy politics,” Jesse pointed out. “We could’ve just kicked Vishkar off the planet and not invade the planet and install a new government.” 

Gabriel chewed on his lower lip. “It’s complicated, Jesse. And we don’t know if they would hypothetically invade us with more hostility the next time around, because you know that they aren’t going to give up so easily.” 

Jesse shrugged, not looking entirely convinced, but dropped it. 

Satya stopped suddenly before pulling Hana’s arm. “I hear footsteps. We must hide, as a precaution.” The group of them scrambled to duck behind a nearby dumpster. Gabriel pressed a hand against his mouth to soften the sound of his ragged breathing as a group of soldiers ran past them, shouting something Gabriel couldn’t hear over the panicked ringing in his ears. 

Hana stood up hesitantly and looked around. “Looks like they’re gone.”

“Excellent.” Satya stood and brushed at some unseen dirt on her clothes. “We must hurry.” And with that, she set off, her eyes more determined than ever. Over the panicked panting, hope and optimism grew in Gabriel’s chest. Maybe they _could_ see this through with no hitches to the plan.

“Halt, by the order of the Vishkar Military,” a voice shouted behind them. 

Well, it was a nice thought while it lasted. 

Gabriel slowly raised his hands in surrender, with everyone following suit as they realized that they were surrounded by a group of well armed soldiers. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Satya grimace. 

“I need to see your identification and your purpose for being out tonight,” the soldier continued. 

“Can’t really do that, bud,” Gabriel said through gritted teeth. The soldiers shifted and tightened their grips on their weapons. 

“Then we must escort you to the Vishkar Capitol as a precaution.” 

“What precaution?” Jack cried. “We’re literally just walking around!” 

“In case you haven’t noticed, tonight is not a good night to be walking around and causing chaos,” the soldier snapped. “We are here to restore peace and order to the capital.”

“Doing a mighty fine job,” Jesse muttered under his breath. Gabriel elbowed him. “Ow!” 

The soldier standing in front of Satya approached her cautiously. “Ma’am, for our safety, we need you to expose your face.” 

“Your safety?” Satya said icily. 

“That was not a request. You have ten seconds to comply.”

Satya grimaced as she slowly removed the scarf from her face. A shocked murmur rumbled through the soldiers as her face revealed itself to them. 

“Director Vaswani?” the first soldier blurted out. 

“I no longer hold that title.” 

The soldier’s face hardened. “ _Vaswani,_ we have direct orders from the president to bring you to him if we see you. You are very lucky that he didn’t order for you to be shot on sight.” 

“Traitor,” another soldier called. Satya opened her mouth angrily. Gabriel elbowed her.

“Not worth it,” he whispered. “We’re outnumbered, it’s too risky.” 

“This way,” the first soldier ordered, escorting them through the city.

“On the bright side, we’re basically given safe passage to the capitol on a silver platter,” Hana mused. Farreeha snorted. 

“We were almost shot, and we still are risking being shot by being around them,” Fareeha reminded Hana. 

“Hey, no talking,” a soldier snapped, butting the blunt end of their rifle on Fareeha’s back. Reinhardt stepped menacingly in front of the soldier. 

“There is no need for violence, my friend,” he said dangerously. “I believe my daughter is following your companion’s orders of following you lot to the capitol with no resistance.” The soldier stumbled back a little, looking intimidated by Reinhardt’s words and sheer size. 

“Dad, please,” Fareeha whispered. Reinhardt shot one last glare to the offending soldier before stepping behind her, essentially blocking her from any damage.

They reached the capitol after what felt like an eternity. The building was in no better shape than the city, either. Ashes smoldered around the courtyard, and some of the windows glowed with fire. It was surrounded by what looked like an entire troop of soldiers, their weapons loaded and ready to fire. The usually pristine gardens were trampled over, and gore painted the ground. 

The leader of their group barked something at the soldier standing guard over the main entrance. The latter probed her eyes curiously over them before nodding and unlocking the door behind her, reaching for the communicator clinging on her ear. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but gasp as they entered the building. Its appearance was even worse than the outside, with the building containing makeshift camps for soldiers to tend to their wounds and prisons for the unlucky rebels that were apprehended. Pots of plants were knocked over, and shatters of what Gabriel guessed was once a destroyed statue sprawled across the floor like a dead body. In the distance, he could hear screams of pain and shouting echoing across the main hall. 

“Follow me. President Korpal has been notified of your arrival.” 

The walk to the bunker felt like a death march to Gabriel, and something twisted unpleasantly low in his stomach. Even if they were still together, it was still discomforting to go straight into the proverbial lion’s den with no plan or ability to communicate with each other. 

“President Korpal, we have the prisoners we notified you about.” 

The bunker was dimly lit and sparsely decorated, not unlike the bunker they were camped out on at Wirtin. President Korpal stood in the middle of the room, flanked by several bodyguards, all carrying a plethora of weapons. 

“Ladies, gentlemen,” Korpal greeted pleasantly. He slowly shifted his eyes towards Satya. “Satya. I’m surprised you chose to return to Vishkar so soon after your message.” 

“Sanjay.” Satya tilted her head up and gave him a haughty glare. “You know I cannot abide liars. You have been expecting my arrival since our -- _your_ colleagues informed you of my call to action.” 

Korpal smiled, but there was no warmth behind it. He tilted his head towards the soldiers that brought them in. “Leave us.” 

Gabriel felt beads of sweat bead prickle his neck as the soldiers filed past them. Satya glared coldly at Korpal. “I suppose you intend to execute myself, as well as my companions. It would be the smart thing to do, considering how much power they hold over their respective governments.” 

“Oh, not immediately,” Korpal said pleasantly. “I intend for you all to have very public executions. But not to worry, Satya, yours will most assuredly be first.”

“What a comfort,” Satya said wryly. “And I assume that you will execute the rest of them on their respective planets.”

“It’s almost like we’ve worked together.” He smiled at his own joke. “What I don’t understand, Satya, is the change of heart.” He stepped forward, edging between desperation and sorrow. “We’re so close, Satya. So close to having the whole system in the palm of our hand, to expanding the limits of humanity, expanding our vision to the galaxy, the _universe._ ”

“Through slavery?” Gabriel interjected dubiously.

“By any means necessary,” Korpal corrected. “Although I suppose that our method may come off as… extreme to some.” 

“Understatement of the millennium,” Hana muttered under her breath. Korpal smiled blandly at her.

“I’ve been wasting my time,” Korpal snapped. “Satya, your execution awaits. Come.” He marched into the hallway, with everyone begrudgingly in tow.

“Anyone notice that they haven’t disarmed us yet?” Hana muttered under breath to Gabriel. 

“You’re really going to pull this,” Gabriel whispered, resigned. 

“Hell yeah.” The dim light of the hallway glinted dangerously against her eyes. 

“Goddammit.” 

“Hey!” A soldier jabbed him and Hana on their backs. “No talking.” Hana winked at Gabriel before falling head first onto the floor.

“OW, I THINK YOU’VE SHATTERED MY SPINE! I WAS PROMISED A PUBLIC EXECUTION, I WON’T BE KILLED WITH THIS INDIGNITY,” she shrieked. Several soldiers rolled their eyes as they bent over to hoist Hana up. “Now!” 

At Hana’s call, everything because a blur. Gabriel whipped his two shotguns out, firing at the soldiers furthest away from him. Hana pulled the closest guard down on the ground with her, straddling them and placed a firm punch to the center of their chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse pulled out his stylized revolver and Fareeha withdrew a rocket launcher (that suspiciously looked a lot like one Gabriel swore was still in development), their faces bright with excitement. Reinhardt simply lifted two soldiers into the air and tossed them across the hallway, and Jack slammed the butt of his rifle on the head of the guard adjacent to him.

“Satya, grab the president!” Gabriel called over the din. She rounded on Korpal, who sneered and pulled a ceremonial sword off the wall. Gabriel tossed his plasma knife in her direction.

Satya sneered and thrust her knife menacingly at him. “So be it, Sanjay.” 

“Everyone, we have more soldiers coming in from both ends of the hallway. Keep them busy until Satya can subdue the president,” Gabriel ordered. “Reinhardt, you, Jesse, and Fareeha take the south end. Jack, Hana, cover the north entrance with me.” 

“Very well, Gabriel.” Reinhardt gave a jaunty salute. “Best of luck to you three.” 

Ammunition ricocheted against the walls. “That’s our cue to leave,” Jack muttered, tugging Gabriel to the other end of the hall. “So, Gabe. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Really? You’re trying to chat me up while we’re fending off a hostile foreign military?” Gabriel snorted as he fired off a round at the offending soldiers.

“Thought this would be easy for you,” Jack teased, peeking from the table to fire at the guards. “So now would be an excellent time to chat you up.” 

“If you say so,” Gabriel grumbled, trying to ignore the fluttering in his chest as Jack brushed against him and the sharp _clang_ from Satya’s and Korpal’s own fight. “I’m guessing now wouldn’t be a great time to instigate a game to pass the time.” 

“Do that and I’m switching Jack out for Jesse,” Hana threatened from the other side of the hall. 

“Fair enough,” Jack sighed, snapping another clip into his rifle. 

Gabriel winced as a stray shrapnel grazed his neck. “It’s a damn good thing that the people attacking us now are shit at aiming.” Jack frowned and pressed a hand against Gabriel’s bleeding neck. “Oh come on, Jack, it’s just a nick.” 

Jack frowned, but dropped it. “Got any plans afterwards?”

“Well, I do have a nosy prince that is requesting my company afterwards,” Gabriel snarked. Jack laughed at his remark. 

“Besides that, I mean.” 

Gabriel shrugged. “Go back home. Fix up the mess Vishkar made of my Senate. Chastise Jesse for disobeying direct orders from his direct superior. Hopefully get some sleep.” 

“The last one might be out of the question,” Jack laughed before immediately grimacing as a bullet whizzed past his ear. “Three out of four isn’t too bad, though.” 

“Not at all,” Gabriel agreed. “When do you think they’ll stop coming? In case we run out of ammo.” 

“Hopefully --”

“SATYA,” Reinhardt’s voice boomed across the hallway. At the center of it, Satya held her knife against an unconscious Sanjay’s neck, her hand shaking. “I believe we came to an agreement.”

Satya hissed, hatred burning in her eyes. “Filth like him do not deserve my mercy.”

“What do you seek as retribution?” Reinhardt asked, approaching them both slowly. 

“Justice for my planet, and my people,” she snarled, prodding the knife into his neck, making shallow cuts. 

“You know that his death will not deliver that to them,” Reinhardt coaxed. “Only you can.” 

“His death can be a good foundation for a new Vishkar to be built on,” Satya said coldly. “Many will welcome it.”

“And many will not,” Reinhardt said. “As the leader of a government, I can say with authority that I do not trust a country built solely on bloodshed as much as I do for countries that were built on principles like mercy.” 

Satya hesitated, doubt flickering in her eyes. Gabriel swallowed nervously. “I…” she started faintly as Korpal slowly came to his senses. 

“Do the right thing, Satya,” Reinhardt pleaded. Satya shot Reinhardt a desperate look before steeling her expression to face Korpal. 

“Yield, Sanjay.” Satya’s voice rang across the hallway as she forced Korpal to his knees and pulled his head back, the tip of the knife lightly touching his neck. He winced as the plasma smoldered into his neck, his eyes defiant. Satya’s jaw trembled as she dug the knife a little further into his neck. “Call off your guards.”

“Never,” he breathed. “Even without me, nothing will stop Vishkar from bringing its plans for the future into fruition.” 

“No,” she agreed. “Vishkar will prosper, but not under you. Call off your lap dogs, Sanjay. Your reign of tyranny is over.” 

“And if I do not?” 

“Then I intend to slaughter everyone that will resist me.”

Korpal sneered. “I’d like to see you try.” 

“You will. And yours will be the last.” Satya knelt down to look at Korpal in the eyes. “I intend to burn your legacy until not a single atom remains of it.”

“And if I do?” 

“I’ll leave it to the will of the people. I cannot be sure if they will show the mercy I will deny you. And may I remind you, _President,_ I do intend to inform every governing body in the system the treachery and abuses you have committed against the people of Vishkar, and what you intended to do with them. I can reassure you the Overwatch Alliance does not take acts of treason lightly,” Satya warned. She pulled harder on his head. “So, I believe I asked you to yield.”

Korpal glared at Satya as he reached for the communicator nestled in his ear. “Retreat to the capitol. Do not fire at any civilians unless necessary. _Ow._ ” Satya pressed the knife closer. Korpal grimaced. “Do not fire at anyone for any reason.”

Satya nodded, looking satisfied. “Hana, if you could help me secure Pres -- _Korpal,_ please.”

“You got it,” Hana sang, ripping off a scrap of fabric from an injured Vishkarian soldier to secure Korpal with. “Lead the way.” 

Gabriel felt numb, his head spinning in shock and exhaustion. Jack tugged at his arm.

“Hey.” Jack gave him a soft smile. “I’ve always wondered what the city looks like from the roof of the capitol.”

“Yeah?” Gabriel huffed.

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed. “And I think now, with security down and everyone taking everything in, would be a good time to check it out.” Gabriel looked around, unsure. There was so much to do, even after they’ve completed their mission. Jack’s smile widened. “I think the system can wait a couple of minutes. Come on.” 

Gabriel allowed himself to be pulled towards the stairs, the shock not quite ready to leave him just yet. 

Jack threw the door to the rooftop open and inhaled deeply, sending him into a coughing fit. “God, that was a bad idea,” he wheezed. “Damn ash.” 

Something drained from Gabriel, and he started laughing, loud and hysterical. Jack managed to squeeze out a few chuckles in between gasps of air. “You going to be alright?” 

“Probably,” Jack shrugged.

Something clicked in Gabriel’s head. “If there’s ash, then…” He strode to the ledge. “...There’s a fire.” 

Sure enough, as Gabriel looked into the vastness that was the capital, the inky sky glowed with an orange tint in front of the multi colored speckles of stars. The city itself smoldered a deeper orange-red, the white buildings reflecting the brightness and color of the fire a million times over. Flecks of ash fluttered in the air as the sound of shouting and cries of victory and defeat pierced through the thick smoke. The forest loomed over the horizon like a dark, comforting blanket.

“Wow,” Gabriel breathed. The sight was sublime and terrifying all at once, and Gabriel couldn’t help but drink the sight in like liquid smoke. 

“Yeah,” Jack agreed softly from behind him. 

Something felt _right_ about this, with the ethereal view of a successful uprising and the high that still rushed through his veins. Whatever it was, it used Gabriel’s hand to reach for Jack’s. 

“I believe I owe you an answer.”

“Oh?” Jack raised an eyebrow, looking playfully curious. 

“Shut up, asshole,” Gabriel mumbled. “Prince John Wilhelm-Morrison…”

“Nobody calls me John but Parliament and Ana when they’re pissed at me,” Jack muttered. Gabriel ignored that.

“I was wondering if you would do me the honor of joining me for an evening out in the near future.” 

“And what would that entail, Prince Gabriel?” Jack asked with a smirk.

“Dinner, entertainment, most likely. A walk through a nearby garden or park, if it goes well…”

“And if it goes _very_ well?”

Gabriel laughed. “I’ll have you know you’re addressing the heir to the Roganian throne, Your Royal Highness.” 

Jack hummed. “What are the advantages of this?”

“My delightful company, you dick,” Gabriel said, swatting at Jack’s chest. “The company of…” Gabriel faltered. Jack’s eyes flickered with curiosity as Gabriel swallowed his heart down his throat and steeled himself. It needed to be said, no matter how strange and foreign it is to say it out loud. “The company of someone who has been, and always will be, deeply, truly in love with you.” 

Something lit up behind Jack’s eyes, and he gave Gabriel an ecstatic and blinding smile. “In that case,” he murmured, catching Gabriel’s hand with his own and sweeping into a low bow. “It would be an honor and a privilege to accept, Your Royal Highness.” Jack pressed a reverent kiss to the top of Gabriel’s hand, slowly trailing more up his arm and shoulder and neck until he reached Gabriel’s jaw. Gabriel tried not to swoon too much. “May I kiss you?”

“Please,” Gabriel whispered, sighing in relief as Jack gently tilted Gabriel’s head to meet his own.

Their first kiss -- their first _real_ kiss -- was nothing like Gabriel expected. 

It was hesitant, in the way first kisses usually are, soft and intimate, like they couldn’t believe they were finally doing it. Gabriel could taste the ash sprinkled on Jack’s mouth like freshly fallen snow and something almost metallic that invited him to be drawn in deeper. Jack clung to Gabriel, gentle and reverent, soft and languid, like they had all the time in the universe. Heat burned between them, and Gabriel could feel Jack’s pulse, sure and strong, under his hands. 

Gabriel broke the kiss, gasping for breath. Jack giggled, tucking Gabriel’s head under his own. “Did that really happen?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel hummed, laughter bubbling up. “That really happened. I thought about what you said, and...”

Jack’s face was lit with a warm glow. “And?”

“I do want to try,” Gabriel confessed. “I’m not sure about a lot of things. I don’t know how this will affect our governments, or our interpersonal relationships with other people, or the balance of entire goddamn system. But if there’s one thing I know in this goddamn universe, I’ve never been this sure about how I feel about all of… this. And I want to be with you so badly it hurts. Because I love you.”

Jack lifted and cupped Gabriel’s face, his face glowing with quiet joy. “I love you too, Gabe,” he whispered, pulling Gabriel in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god it's almost over. i want y'all to know i practiced some real self restraint to not post the whole damn thing when my posting date came up.


	11. Epilogue

_TWO YEARS LATER_

“Oh god, I’m nervous. I haven’t been this nervous since I graduated and was about to receive my military assignment. Are you nervous? You should—mph!”

“Hana, if you don’t shut up right now, everyone in the hall will get sympathy anxiety,” Gabriel deadpanned as Hana squawked under his hand in protest. 

“She sure as hell isn’t helping my anxiety levels,” Jack muttered under his breath. Gabriel stroked his hair. 

“See? Now you’ve made my newlywed husband and _your_ consort-king anxious. What kind of bodyguard are you, Hana?” Gabriel scolded teasingly. “But in all seriousness, find a way to chill, will you?”

“Rude,” Hana sniffed. “It’s not enough that the palace is stuffed full of active and former government officials from six different planets, not including our own, but you two have to _greet_ them all by name and handshake, which…” She shuddered theatrically. “So many different assassination attempts possible. It’s my worst nightmare.” 

“I thought your worst nightmare was a four headed snake,” Gabriel said bluntly. 

Hana pointed an accusing finger at him. “Rude. I told you that in confidence!” 

Gabriel rolled his eyes as Hana threw open the double door. “Don’t sass me at my own wedding ceremony.”

“You’ve never made me promise not to,” Hana sniped. 

“Presenting Their Majesties King Gabriel Reyes and his consort, King John Reyes,” the greeter announced. Jack’s breath hitched, and Gabriel squeezed his hand reassuringly. 

“Just not used to having the title ‘king’ and the surname ‘Reyes’ attached to my own except in my fantasies,” Jack murmured. “Might need some time to get used to it.”

Gabriel laughed as they descended the stairs into the main hall, lined with what looked like every significant government official and their grandmas. “Better get used to it soon,” he teased. “Since you’ll be hearing it for the rest of your life. C’mon, let’s go greet some people.” 

A stream of well wishers poured towards them, gushing about how handsome and distinguished they both looked, how happy they were for Jack and Gabriel, and who planned the ceremony, because it was absolutely _divine_ —

“Is it bad to say I’m more or less worn out from making small talk at and about my own wedding?” Jack stage whispered. Gabriel laughed and brushed his lips against temple of his _husband._

“Not really,” Gabriel admitted. “We _have_ been talking for about an hour since we walked in, I think it’s okay to say it out loud right about now.” 

“I hope you two will make an exception for me,” a dry voice said behind them. 

Gabriel gripped Jack’s hand a little tighter than necessary as he turned them around to confront the source of the voice. He melted in relief. “Satya! It’s been too long.”

“Indeed it has,” she smiled sadly. “My warmest congratulations for your nuptials, and my sincerest apologies for not keeping in touch as much as I would like to.”

“You’ve been busy,” Gabriel said dismissively as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Reconstruction project still going okay?” 

Satya nodded. “I am providing employee training on how to rebuild things with hard light, as well as serving on the Vishkarian government restoration program.”

“I thought you would lead it?”

“No, not at all,” she chuckled. “I’d rather not be solely responsible for the planet’s new government, and the public is rightfully wary of me. As much as this is a mess of my own creation, I understand there are some limitations what I can do to help. The less I’m involved, the better.” 

“And the project you’ve been so secretive about for the past eighteen months?” Jack asked, absently squeezing Gabriel’s hand. 

“Announcing it officially next week,” she said with a pleased smile. “Unofficially, I’m announcing to you two that it’s an anti-poverty project. Mostly old designs and plans I’ve created when I was Director, finally put to use in good hands.” 

“Congratulations,” Jack said excitedly. 

“Satya, that’s amazing,” Gabriel effused. Something from the middle of the hall caught his eye and he nudged her shoulder. “I believe you’ve caught my Head of Climatology’s eye. I guarantee Dr. Zhou will be able to keep up with your science talk, and she is a very lovely conversationalist.” 

Satya blushed and shifted her eyes. “I… I do not think…”

Gabriel turned her around and gave her a gentle push to Dr. Zhou’s general direction. “It’s a party, Satya. At least have one dance with Dr. Zhou on my account.”

Satya nodded, and Jack sighed dreamily as Dr. Zhou turned a bright red and nodded furiously, allowing Satya to lead her to the already bustling dance floor. “Young love. Their babies will be terrifyingly smart. Hope their kids don’t try to take over the world in our lifetime.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Gabriel muttered as he greeted another round of well wishers. 

“Gentlemen,” Reinhardt roared over the din, dragging Ana across the room. Fareeha, Jesse, and Fareeha’s date followed, chatting cheerfully and laughing. “Congratulations to you both! Although,” he lowered his head, “if you had waited another six months, you both would’ve made me a very rich man.”

Ana swatted his shoulder. “Reinhardt, you’re already the head monarch of a wealthy country. You did not need to win that bet.” 

“You _bet_ on when we’d get married?” Gabriel yelped. Jack stroked his arm soothingly and Jesse smiled apologetically at them both. 

“I’m not surprised, but I’m still disappointed,” Jack muttered. “Especially with you, Fareeha.” 

“Jesse started it,” Fareeha shrugged.

“Hey,” Jesse complained. Fareeha rolled her eyes. 

“Once I told him where you two were stuck, he looked me straight in the eye and told me that if they didn’t make out at least once in the week, he’d give me fifty bucks.”

“What?” Jesse said defensively. “If you were in my position, you’d do the same thing.” 

“You’re the worst,” Gabriel groaned. Ana laughed and grabbed Jack’s hand.

“Jack, allow me to steal you away from your husband for one dance,” she said sweetly. Jack made a face.

“What’s wrong with _your_ husband dancing with you?” Jack whined as Ana pulled him to the dance floor. Fareeha smiled brightly.

“If you don’t mind, I did promise Olivia a dance,” Fareeha said sweetly before whisking her date off to the dance floor. Reinhardt murmured something about wanting to talk to Satya, leaving Gabriel behind with Jesse. 

“You’re happy, right?” Jesse asked after a moment of silence. “Blink twice if you’re doing this against your will. I won’t tell Jack.” 

Gabriel laughed and ruffled Jesse’s hair. “Of course I’m happy. The last time I was this happy, you graduated from the Military Academy.” 

“No, you’re definitely happier than when I graduated,” Jesse muttered. “I’m glad, though. You deserve to be happy. Especially with him.” 

“Did you really have to put it like that?”

“Yes. May your marriage not be disgustingly adorable as your courtship, for the sake of our gag reflexes.”

“We aren’t _that_ disgusting. You and Hanzo are just as gross ever since you went public on your relationship a few months back.” 

“You’re old,” Jesse countered. “That makes it inherently disgustingly cute.” 

“Does it?” Gabriel raised his eyebrow. “Didn’t realize my age made me inherently adorable.” He looked out at the dance floor, where Jack was twirling confusedly with Ana. “Age did make _him_ look better, though, that’s for sure.”

Jesse gagged. “You’re disgusting. Go claim your man from Aunt Ana so you can be disgusting together, for all of our sakes. Please.” 

“Only if you go to your own boyfriend,” Gabriel called as Jesse pushed him towards the crowd. Finding Jack was borderline impossible in the swirl of brocade and silk and velvet, but eventually, he managed to find his husband.

Holy shit, Jack’s his _husband_. 

Gabriel shook his head and tapped Ana on the shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”

Ana laughed and patted him on the arm. “He was starting to get antsy away from you.” She smiled at Jack before turning to Gabriel and whispered to him. “This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him. Take care of him for us, please.”

“Of course,” Gabriel said quietly. Ana smiled and patted his shoulder before leaving.

“She didn’t threaten you, did she?” Jack asked as he neatly arranged himself in Gabriel’s arms. 

“No, not at all,” Gabriel said. They swayed gently to the music and Gabriel drank it all in like a glass of champagne. “Has anyone ever told you how gorgeous you look tonight?”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, I’m a married man,” Jack chastised. Gabriel and Jack giggled at his joke. “You do look amazing, too, though. I’m not letting you one up me on compliments on our first few hours of our marriage.” 

“I thought you just said you were a married man, Morrison,” Gabriel teased. 

Jack hummed. “Wrong last name, it’s Reyes now. I took his last name, more prestige with his.”

“Are you telling me you married me for my title?” Gabriel said in mock outrage. 

“The title was a bonus,” Jack said, pecking Gabriel on the lips. “The _very_ loving and attractive husband was the main selling point.” 

“Ana told me this is the happiest she’s ever seen you,” Gabriel stated. 

“Ana’s too perceptive for her own good. But she’s right, this is definitely the happiest I’ve been in a really, really long time. Possibly ever.” 

“Me too,” Gabriel murmured. “I didn’t ever think I deserved to be this happy.” 

“Me neither.” Jack gave him a gentle smile as he leaned to place a kiss on Gabriel’s forehead. “Guess it’s just written in the stars and sky.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s over, which means it’s time for some acknowledgements! so, in no particular order:
> 
> so much love for the gorgeous and talented [pixiepunch](https://pixiepunch.tumblr.com), aka the artist i was paired with for this event. thank you so much for providing me with such an amazing prompt and art that became this fic and for the love, support, and additional art you’ve created while i was writing this. art that fucking gorgeous deserves way more than a 5k fic, and i hope i’ve done it justice <3
> 
> i’m indebted to the stunning and amazing [giselle](https://superfxckboy.tumblr.com) for providing so much love and encouragement and listening to me rambling about this fic while also complaining about the workload i’ve given myself, and for organizing the event along with [tully](https://sunkentowers.tumblr.com) and [ash](https://kerrigore.tumblr.com). thank you so much to you three for providing this amazing opportunity and experience, i’ve had so much fun writing this and interacting with fellow r76 shippers on discord. also, my deepest apologies for going this far over the 5k minimum.
> 
> all forms of affection to my v handsome beta [luke](https://skiesovertatooine.tumblr.com) for being there to bounce some ideas around with me and catching all my mistakes/typos since i have the typing skills and vocabulary of a ten year old from the 90s. no words can say how much i appreciate the time and effort you put into polishing this fic and the endless stream of love and support you’ve given to me. 
> 
> thank you and smooches to everyone on the dailyr76 and r76_bigbang discord servers for being the world’s best cheerleaders! extra special love to [nat](https://nutheadgee.tumblr.com) for suffering with me and [laur](https://joditha.tumblr.com) for giving me the idea for hand smooches while also crying with me over space princess fareeha. 
> 
> last and sure as hell not least, thank you to all the readers that have stuck around for this fic as it slowly updated! your support means everything to me, and no words can express how much i mean it. <3
> 
> **edit: i posted the original epilogue [here](https://asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com/post/169493216355/once-upon-a-time-i-wrote-a-fic-called-burn-out) if you'd like to see how it originally ended (spoiler alert, it's not that much different).

**Author's Note:**

> main: prancingpterodactyls.tumblr.com  
> writing: asthmaticjedi.tumblr.com


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